10 Minute Tip

 

Have these little tips changed your life yet? No, well that's okay. They really aren't meant to. I just feel like the question I get asked MOST often is...How do you get so much done? Granted, it could be the amount of coffee I drink. It could be that giving birth to twins when your first child is only 15 months old really brings a new level of urgency to multi-tasking. Or it could be that being married to someone who is gone a large portion of the time (as in he can't be contacted because he's on another continent or in the air, type of gone) requires that one makes the absolute most of every moment available. But if even one tip makes life a bit easier, or a task more readily accomplished, then my work here is done!

So this week's tip is INVENTORY YOUR THREAD. You are a quilter, so let's face it, you have far more thread than you need at any given moment... but if you're like me, you'll run out of exactly what you need in the middle of a project at midnight on a weekend. Stop laughing, you know this has happened to you too!!

I have several ways of keeping my thread under control. First, I have the drawer right next to my machine (photo above) that has my machine threads. I have the piecing threads together, the quilting threads together, the specialty threads together, etc. I can see at a glance if I am getting low on something.

When a spool gets low, I try to wind bobbins with it so I can make room for a new spool. I keep a small container of bobbins to the right of my machine. I will use random threads for piecing and don't care if they match or not. It will be inside the quilt sandwich when it's done.

I also have a jar of applique thread that I keep on a shelf. It has all my pretty colored threads that are so nice to do hand work with. I keep it next to a jar of buttons and it is nice to look at, as well as being useful.

Then there is a basket of specialty threads, ribbons and various other things that are good for embellishing. These items are usually added at the very end of the process, and are not used for the actual applique work, so they stay together.

I find that if I know exactly where the thread is that I need, I can grab it quickly and go. I also know that I am more likely to replenish my supply if I can see at a glance which ones are running low.

Now if you'll excuse me...it looks like I have some bobbins to fill.

Enjoy every stitch!
Diane