A new thread scheme

One of my ongoing challenges in my studio is figuring out the best way to store and access my large collection of thread. I have yet to find the perfect system. In my old house the thread was on a rack on the wall.









It was an OK system, but kind of messy and, of course did not accommodate all my thread. In my new studio I opted for shallow drawers which was also OK, but messy, so I went to bigger, better organized drawers.























This has worked pretty well, except that I found that since these drawers are not within reach of my sewing machine I was getting up every time I wanted to change a quilting thread color, and, instead of putting each spool away after using it, I'd leave it out on the table in case I wanted to use it again in the piece I was working on. Pretty soon I'd have a dozen spools rolling around the table, unspooling thread and rolling off onto, and across, the floor. Not so good. So that old hanging rack idea once again held some appeal, but wall space, within reach, was limited. The side of a storage cabinet was handy but too narrow for the hanging racks like I used to use.



I did what any reasonable person now does—I googled "thread racks" and found a lot of possibilities and one that seemed kind of perfect. Here it is. So, off I went to the home store for an 8' length of molding and three 1/4" dowels. In the online article they call the molding "quarter round," but it is actually cove molding, which is easily drilled in such a way that when you insert the dowels, then attach it to a vertical surface, the dowel pegs are at a 45 degree angle—perfect for holding thread spools.



I cut my molding strip into 13" lengths to fit on the cabinet side, then marked to drill holes 2" apart. I had a drill bit that was exactly right for my pegs, which I tapped in with a rubber mallet. They fit tightly enough that I didn't even need to glue them.



















Then I measured and marked the side of the studio cabinet and started screwing the individual strips in place.



















And there it is! Pretty colors! The rest of my thread is still in drawers, but these are colors I am likely to be using at my sewing machine, and of course I can trade them out at the beginning of a big, multicolored project. I think this will really help in keeping those threads within reach, but out of the action on the table. Only time will tell. I might be looking for yet a better scheme.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad