A few days ago Jane Eborall mentioned how she handles leftovers – thread left on shuttles after she finishes a project. She winds it back on the ball it came off of! Wow, what an idea! You’d never be stuck with wondering what was on the shuttle, what size it is, and where to find more if you needed it. I think this would be a good habit to get into to with leftover thread.
So far I’ve only done this when there is a lot on the shuttle – sometimes, and usually only when I need the shuttle. But I think it’s a great idea.
What I usually do is try to figure out some small thing to do with those leftovers, usually when I need another shuttle and they are all full. Not an uncommon occurrence. Sometimes I try out new ideas and techniques, sometimes I doodle with flowers and butterflies and such, and sometimes I wind it on whatever is handy to get it off the shuttle and promptly forget about it.
About a year ago I tried my hand at doing ATCs to use up some of my little flower and butterfly doodles. Those ATCs didn’t turn out too bad. Since then I’ve done one more, which I think came out pretty good, too.
You can’t see it in this picture but the cup is slightly raised from the background, giving it a bit of depth.
Yes, only one more since my first try. I like doing them, but usually I don’t have time to work on them when I can think of all kinds of things I want to try. Doing more ATCs are on my list of goals for 2015.
Thread storage
I mentioned that mice got into my thread a few weeks ago. I finally did something I’ve needed to do for a long time – I found a better storage solution.
This is a stack of three three-drawer containers I found at Wal-mart in the office supplies department. They had almost identical drawers in the storage solution area that were in white – same brand, same size – but they were a $1 more each. Black works for me.
These drawers keep the balls of thread in one layer, making them easier to look through and keeping them from getting lost in the bottom of a deep dresser drawer. And I can easily store thread by color family – that is if I can make up my mind which family that is. Is purple in the pink family or the red family? I only have so many drawers to work with. It’s also very easy to put partial (leftover?) balls of thread away when I’m done with them.
What do you do with leftover thread?
“Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.”
Thomas Fuller
brainyquote.com