Thread

When I saw the linky party at Sew Many Ways for thread organization I knew I had to join in.  I have to say thread is as much fun for me as fabric is.  I've tried many brands for different projects and there is one thing I have realized over the years, if it is organized, your project will be much more enjoyable.

Last year I purchased a lot of the Connecting Threads Essential Thread Packs and then soon realized I needed a way to be able to quickly find what I was looking for as far as colors go.  I found these clear boxes that stack on each other which worked wonderfully, however, the new spools were bigger and I couldn't get three rows of these spools in the boxes.

I can fit my smaller spools of similar colors down the middle.  I like these boxes because I can see from all sides and the top which colors are in which boxes.  That alone makes finding a certain color a lot easier.

The day after Thanksgiving last year my husband and son went to JoAnn's to get this for me as a surprise.  I guess they were sick of me trying to find a certain color of thread for a project late at night and my being frustrated that no shop or store was open until the next day or two (I'm pretty sure if I remember correctly I had quite the dilemma with that over the Thanksgiving holiday last year).  The cutest part of the story was that there was a huge line they had to wait in, and there were a lot of women so interested in the fact that a husband and son would go shopping for this item.  Of course they were the stars of the day and finally some nice women let them budge in line since they only had one item.  My son called me on the way home to tell me about all the Pilgrims that were at JoAnn's that day.  I still giggle thinking about it as they were Amish, not Pilgrims, but with Thanksgiving he got them mixed up.

I do a lot of cross stitch and embroidery so of course I have a lot of DMC thread.  Last year I finally completed my DMC collection, wound them all on cardboard bobbins and boxed them by number.

Of course I have to have extras of those colors also because you just never know when you might run out of a color at 2 a.m. with only three X's or a little line of embroidery left to go.  I keep the extras in a photo storage box (well, actually two of them) with the higher numbers in one box and the lower numbers in another.  I keep a running list of ones that are used up and then purchase them again when they are on sale.

I use a basket for the perle cotton on spools...

and a Martha Stewart tin box for the perle cotton skeins.

Silk threads are kept in these storage bags on rings so they are easy to find.

And then I have a project bag full of Sampler Threads, Weeks Dye Works, and Crescent Colors threads.  These are mainly for cross stitch, but I have been known to change the threads on embroidery patterns too.  I should probably find a different way to store these, but this way I can grab the bag and go, and they all stay dust free.  I guess you can tell I've been working on my thread "collection" for a lot of years.  I know these storage ideas won't work for everyone, but they have worked well for me.  I will be back later with my block of the day.  Happy Stitching!! --Kristen