John James Big Eye Quilting Hand Needles-Size 11 12/Pkg

I've been hand sewing with these needles for several years, and the last couple of packs, the inside of the needle eye is very rough. My thread is shredding and cutting like it never has before. I don't think I'll be buying this brand again. They are nice and sharp, they glide through fabric easily, but I can't sew with more than a foot or so of thread before the thread has just disintegrated at the eye.

I ordered the sz. 11 needles based on the Big Eye Quilting description. According to the picture I thought I was going to get something to work with. When I received the product, I was amazed at how small the needle was and in my opinion the eye was not as big as I expected.

I purchased because I’m learning to hand quilt, my grandmother swore by these needles in no. 10 large eye. I have no idea how my 88 year old grandmother could see to thread the needle. I spent 45 minutes trying to thread, before I handed off to my expert husband who spent 30 minutes and failed to thread the needle. I had to use a no. 9 needle, and it wasn’t very comfortable to get my rhythm. I will not be buying these again. That large eye is still just as tiny as a regular no. 10

Satisfied with product, but was poorly packaged. This tiny item was loose in a larger box with a 12"quilting hoop. The needles had become lodged in box somehow as to where I could not see them. But luckily before discarding the shipping box, I dropped it, so the needle feel out. I suggest small items should be placed in a ziplock bag in with larger item, therefore making them easy to locate among larger items.

I didn't expect to like such small needles, but I decided to give them a try based on the favorable reviews by experienced hand quilters (also because they are made in the UK). Wow! They do easily penetrate and glide through the fabric. I may not be able to load as many stitches as with the longer needles, but I never have to struggle to load them.

I was pleased to be able to thread these, unlike the regular eye ones (whose eye was too small for standard quilting thread). But unfortunately, these are so short they are awkward to hold and only allow me to take one stitch at a time while quilting, which sort of defeats the purpose.If they were half an inch longer, at least, they'd be perfect.

Needles were smaller then I expected, so they took some getting used to, but they did make making small even stitches easier, and my quilts look better than when I had used bigger needles, and having the big eyes made threading them a lot easier.

Good quality needles. They’re quit short so I can’t take very many stitches at a time in hand quilting. I’m doing better with the sharps that a a little longer.

John James needles are very good quality, the big eye quilting needles are great for thicker threads.