This week for Nifty Notions #2 I'll be sharing my review of the Clover Fork Pins. Nifty Notions is not necessarily notions I love but notions I'm reviewing. Most will be new notions, bought or gifted, some will be pulled from my modest stash of quilting notions. No matter how they are acquired my review will be honest. They will be measured by price, ease of use and if they make my quilting easier. I love that you value my opinion but it's one persons opinion of a product. Please take the time to use the Google search for more reviews before making the decision on whether or not to add them to your notions stash.
The Clover Fork Pins were part of a subscription quilting box. Subscription boxes are tons of fun if you like surprises and don't mind getting fabric and notions you may not like or need. I cancelled my subscription for those reasons. I would rather purchase things I really want and need.
The Clover Fork Pins came in a pretty little blue plastic box. 35 pins per box. A few months ago I saw a very popular quilter(fabric designer) promoting these pins. So I was really excited when I found these in my subscription box.
To perform my pin test I pulled a few scraps to make (2) sample 4 patches. The first 4 patch will have the seams pressed to the side and the other one with the seams pressed open as suggested by the popular quilter mentioned above.
As always, I'm finger pressing.
The fork pins are a much thicker than the super fine glass head pins I normally use. The extra bulky pins are a little harder to pierce the fabric. They also distort the fabrics.
The bulky pins and distorted fabric caused no issues with sewing. I decided to get a little wild and crazy by sewing over the pins. My machine hopped right over the pin with no issues. The seams match perfectly on the front.
Block 2.
Seams finger pressed open.
Pinned and distorted once again.
For some reason I could not sew over the seam. This is where the machine came to an abrupt halt.
And this is the result of the sudden stop. It's not uncommon for this to happen occasionally when I'm piecing on my Brother, so I'm not going to blame the pins.
Once again perfectly aligned seams.
But I can get the perfect seams with the glass head super fine pins.
Here's my thoughts.
1.Cost
35 pins for about $8 is a little high
2. Ease of Use
They were not easy to push through the fabric.
3. Efficiency
Nope they didn't improve anything. It was actually harder to use than my normal pins.
So to be honest I may never use these again. But I'll keep them just encase I find a good use for them.
Just a little reminder that you can still gt 20% off you entire purchase at The Purple Hobbies website using the code PodunkPrettiesJan20
Offer ends February 29, 2020. Make sure when adding the code to your shopping cart that you click APPLY. You can see my review of the BladeSaver Thread cutter here. And the Third hand Binding Folder Clip here.
50% OFF Sweet Sixteen PDF pattern
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| Sale ends 2-15-2020 |
I use the thin glass head pins, but I will say when I am matching points, like geese or where a bunch of triangles come together I love the fork pins. I always had a problem with when I use straight pin I have a wee bit of distortion usually one of the points slips bit away, but these helped a lot.
ReplyDeleteI used them for points also but found it was easier for me to use my regular straight pins in each side instead of the fork pin. Stick a pin straight down into the matched point, then put a straight pin on each side of it holding it firm. Maybe it has to do with the size of the pin and how easily it goes through all those layers of fabric?
DeleteGrazie per queste informazioni.
ReplyDeleteI love your reviews: so perfectly honest! :-) I've always thought it would be easier to put pins in one at a time. :-) But I'm still loving the idea of the purple thread trimmer you reviewed the other day. Hugs, H
ReplyDeleteI had purchased those pins a couple of years ago thinking they would help with accuracy...but, never got around to trying them out. Thanks for trying them out for me! lol! On a side note....those pins are very similar to the pins used with floral design....so, if you decide you want to secure a bow (or ornament) to some flowers that are in styrofoam (or floral foam)...you have the necessary implements! ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood information...they have intrigued me for awhile, but I will stick with my current pins that I have a zillion of, I guess. LOL!!
ReplyDelete