Bluesbroad,
I agree with Margo! Brilliant!! Quilters are so innovative!

Bluesbroad wrote:
BRILLIANT!

I use the tomato pincushion, marked like yours, Margo. When I take a needle out of the tomato, I replace it with a flower pin, so I'll know which section to put it back if I didn't use it much.

Margo,
I wondered if you knew the answer to this when I posted it! -- you are a wonder! You know soooo much! Anyway, I agree with you about the relative cost of the needle. AND, with the potential damage it can do to our very pricey machines, why would you even try to save on the needle? That isn't smart, IMHO.
You know, on the Schmetz needle case, there is a magnifying "spot" that is supposed to help us see the size stamped on the needle. I still can't read it, even with that!!
When I took the classes that were included with my Pfaff Creative machine, the guy teaching the classes said he divided the tomato horizontally (like the equator and the topics lines) and then labeled the sections "1-2 hrs", "3-5 hrs", & "6-7 hrs". When he used the needle he needed from the size part that was from the 6-7 hrs for about 1 hour, he discarded it. He also said he had 3 pincushions. I just cannot remember why! Heh, heh, duh! He also did what you did for the sizes. I couldn't remember how the labeling looked, and you provided that! Thanks so much! I appreciate it. This will help. I hope someone knows how to do the 3 pincushion thing.... it sounded really smart. WHY, oh WHY? don't we write these things down. I have all kinds of notes from those classes, but not that
Thanks again!

Myra, I don't remember where that was discussed, but here is a picture of my tomato pin cushion. I only keep track of the size of the needles, not the hours of use.
I can tell you that I change needles often, depending on what I am working on. Even the pricey titanium needles http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/product/superior-90-14/ (which do last longer)
are only about $1.25 each. Compared to the amount of money that we pay for all the fabric and batting for a large quilt, not counting the amount of time that is involved in making a quilt from start to finish, that is really a small price to pay for trouble-free sewing on a project that is likely to out live us!! Every quilt deserves it's own needle!

Because I can't see the numbers on the needle shaft without a jeweler's loop (or strong magnifying glass) the pincushion does help me keep track of the numbers.



Whenever I change my needle I mark the size on a piece of blue painter's tape and put it on top of my machine so I'll know where which section of the pincushion it goes in if I feel like there is more use in it without using the jeweler's loop!

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I know we have covered this, AND, I was going to write the directions down. However --- procrastination struck and now I can't find the thread where this was covered. (I really tried -- spent two hours yesterday looking, searching, etc - no luck.) Could someone please tell me how to mark the tomato-shaped pincushions for organizing your machine needles by type and length of use?
Thanks in advance!
Mema1