Living in the tropics, the tomato pin cushions become hard inside -- they must slowly absorb moisture -- using the felted wool ones work, any pin not pushed down to it's head (and any needle) will rust starting from where it is exposed to air. Have to admit I've never made one! The bucket list of quilts to make is too long....

I have used wool too......I go the annual county fair, sheep building and gather some shearing......have never tried crushed walnuts...have to remember that....

I had a friend who had a pincushion made by filling a sock with fine sand and tying a knot in the top. It was heavy enough to stay where she put it, the sand helped keep her pins sharp, and it was a no-cost project as well.

I don't really know what to fill pin cushions with. I don't use walnut shells in mine. My DD is allergic to tree nuts and could react from touching my pin cushion. I have one that was a gift that has walnut shells and it is only used as a decoration. If you do fill them with walnut shell you should let others know. I had never heard of putting walnut shells in a pin cushion when I got the elephant one as a gift.

I concur that raw wool is best for preserving pin points and preventing rust. You can get sometimes it as "roving" at local fairs or become friends with your local sheep rancher.

This may sound odd but the best working pin cushion I have found is a good old fashioned sink sponge. It works. I use glass head silk pins and have never had a problem with dullness or rust.
peace

I love pincushions to look at, but for everyday use I use a magnetic pin cushion. I sew fast and don't take time to stick pins in a cushion... I just toss them in the general direction of the magnetic dish and it sucks them right in! Super easy.

I do love to make and give pin cushions and have some special ones from swaps and gifts sitting about for decoration in my sewing room. Will look into the walnut shells for gift pincushions....

Great thread!

Possibly because the pins go through it and it's easy to get stuck by a pin if you pick up the cushion? I have that problem with one I made for my own use. I used poly-fill and stuck myself so many times I finally threw it away and made one larger and used walnut shells. Maybe I'm just a slow learner and should know after three or four sticks that I should pick it up by the sides??

Regarding using SAND:

You need to be careful when using sand to make sure that it does not have any salt residue in it. I don't know how you do this, perhaps you have to wash the sand first. But, I found out the hard way when I was making a slew of pincushions to sell at our guild's quilt show boutique. I must have sewn about 20 of them and filled them with the sand that you get from the hardware store. It was inexpensive, the sand weighed down the pin cushion and it would keep the pins sharp - Right? WRONG! Apparently there was salt in the sand and they eventually started pitting my pins and then they started to rust. I don't live in a humid area, so the only reason I could come up with was salty sand. Fortunately, I didn't sell very many, but the one's I gave away to friends I had to replace because their pins started to pit and rust, too. I used crushed walnuts as a stuffing this time.

My favorite pincushion is an oval one made out of sheep's wool.

I made one and filled it with play sand.