pin caught inside the quilting

[quiltingfairy]

Hi all

I have just found out from the customer that a sewing pin is caught in between the layers... bugger.

Any suggestion to get it out. it is caught in an area surrounded by lovely quilting.

[Quilting Heidi]

I've had this happen too. Is it a flowerhead pin or does it have a ball on it? You can try to separate it and just leave the head of the pin inside the quilt, unless it is a big headed pin. In that case just open up the closest seam and work out the pin. Hopefully this won't be too big of an area to have to re-quilt.

[Bonnie]

Hate when this happens....just know your not alone in this this, and that there are many of us whom have done this same thing.

Heidi has given you the only solution to fix the situation. Just be glad it wasn't something big like your snips and you hit it while you were quilting and jammed your timing. That's even a larger mess than just leaving a pin in.

Hand quilters have this happen as well...I have a scar that goes from pointer finger tip to wrist where my grandmother left one in and I found it while I was making the bed.

[Stagecl]

Been there...done that...opened a seam and worked it out.

[BethDurand]

Not really related to your issue, but when I was in high school my mother made us all ski wear. I found one of the pins that she had used inside my jacket. It was a ball head pin, but I was able to poke it out, cut off the metal portion, and then leave the pin head in the jacket. Granted, my jacket probably had a lot more loft than your quilt. Good luck to you.

[Anniquilter]

The only time I had this happen it was an antique quilt top of my own. I ended up cutting a tiny slit in the backing, working the corsage pin out & appliqued I tiny piece of backing material over the slit. Good luck!

[Ferret]

Yup, add another been there done that. Long fine tweezers help. If it is a flowerhead you can break the head so it will come out of a smaller hole.

Ferret

[JBQuilts]

Another been there done that; twice for the same friend. Once was a flowerhead that I opened a seam and removed and told her to close the seam. And the second just last week broke a needle and was a safety pin! And the strange thing about it was as I laid it out on the table to measure I heard the pin hitting and dragging on the table but could never find it! I'll look until I find next time. Thankfully, after replacing the needle everything was alright with the machine.

[quiltmonkey]

Yikes! I haven't discovered any pins stuck inside a quilt sandwich (yet) and hope I don't! But I did have a close call not too long ago,,,as I was loading a customer quilt I found a straight pin hidden in the seam allowance and I pulled it out before I got to quilting.

[quiltingfairy]

It is a ball headed pin and caught in the back of the quilt. can't remember if it was a pieced back or a wide back. could it be taken out from the front - worked through the wadding????? without damage to the wadding.

thank you for the suggestions

fiona

[quiltmonkey]

Fiona,

If there is a way for you to poke the straight pin all the way through the back grab ahold of the pin with your fingers (or carefully with pliers) and twist, turn until you break the ball off off from the straight pin you can just leave the ball piece inside the quilt.

[Bonnie]

Originally posted by quiltingfairy

without damage to the wadding

Fiona.....there is NO chance of damage to your wadding. I can't think of any other way of getting it out than those already mentioned. And leaving the pin head won't hurt anything either. I'm just surprised you didn't hit it while quilting that's amazing in itself.