Magnetic Pin Dish

With this quilting project I just started, I realized that pincushions are a pain. I had my grandmother's at home, and it was soft enough that it was no big deal, but for some unremembered reason, I left it in Texas. Which leaves me with one of those hard as a rock generic tomato ones.

I pull pins out as I get close to them while sewing for several reasons: A) they can pull on lighter fabrics and ruin your straight (or in my case, semi-straight) lines; B) They can get bent; C) I've had one break  and one end go flying. Not pleasant. So I pull them out and since it's not as easy to stick them back in their tomato pin cushion, put them in my mouth until I finish the seam. Which is fine for a 5 inch seam with 2 pins. Not so fine for a 35 inch seam with 15 pins.

What's my solution? Magnets. Fantabulous, mouth saving magnets. And Pinterest, of course. Another brilliant lady showed me the light.

I found this cute salad plate on clearance at Pier 1 and glued some magnets to the bottom of it. Now I can just toss my pins here while I'm sewing.