find a nice oblong ceramic dish...with a ridge on the bottom....insert a magnet on bottom and magnet inside dish. Works well as a magnetic pin cushion and cheap...Some people glue the magnets on the bottom but I don't. I find it works with just the magnetic pull. I sometimes use two magnets side by side it it fits.

And dont forget that many sewing machines are in fact computers. If you liked your old one it seems to me that you don't need to buy paint, you could glue fabric around the base, fill the can with rice or pennies, then instead of fiberfill use pantihose, batting scraps, or my personal favorite sand. You can buy play sand in a small container at hobby lobby,

I found a rolled up wool felt pincushion at a quilt show that I just LOVE! It has a flat bottom and the lanolin in the wool keeps the pins slipping in and out of the fabric with ease. It's probably about 2" deep and maybe 4" wide, so it holds those long flower head pins easily. The only problem is that the cats keep knocking it on the floor and the dogs like to chew the wool, so I have to remember to put it out of cats reach when I'm done sewing!

I got a round felted wool ball pincushion on ebay that I cut the bottom off so it's flat, it's a nice size about 5" diameter. I also bought a half one at the same time (has a magnet on bottom to hold it in place) it's fine stuck on my 401a for the pins I pull out as I sew but I prefer the other one for long pins and for carrying around to different sewing areas.

I own three of those, and I don't know how I lived without them. Just one word of advice; don't put them near your scissors or any other metal object because it will attach itself to the item. :-)

I have a seam ripper that came with a Singer sewing machine I purchased in the 70's - it is acrylic with square shape that comes to a curved tip at the end. Luv it. Use it for not only unsewing but for turning corners, etc. Just great. it is always where I laid it. Only problem, you guessed it, can't remember where I laid it!

Reading through this entry made me think of my very favorite pin cushion, which was given to me as a Christmas many, many years ago (during the 70s probably). In sorority, we had secret sisters, and that year mine was a knitter. She knitted no telling how long a strip about 4" wide, then rolled it up real tight, and voila, my most favorite pin cushion through many AF moves, and then other moves that the AF didn't pay for, and has gotten pretty dirty, but that's OK with me--it still holds a blue million pins of all sizes, plus needles and safety pins, and even my small seam rippers. Think about it, knitters, and do us a tute--only I can't knit--I would have to swap out quilting a quilt for her or some such; but I would welcome a new one.....

Here is opinne that looks like a work horse http://www.etsy.com/listing/97091506...ttern-posy-pin. Only a $1 for the pattern. I would love to see pictures of all these favored pin cushions you are all writting about.

oldtnquiltinglady--Could you cut off the knitted waist band from an old sweater, zig zag the edges before it unravels, and roll it into a pincushion??

I love this board. This has been all kinds of help. This crowd is AMAZING and my favorite stop on the web!
Thank you all so much.