Maire

I have a basket full, have given some to groups needing them for crafts. But they are too sentimental for me to throw away, I was a child during WW2, also from a poor family-there were no toys but a neighbor had a box of empty spools & would let me play with them, I used them as building blocks. Very fond memories of the afternoons at her house playing with the spools while she sewed & listened to the soap operas on the radios. Sometimes my grandchildren play with them but not often, they have so much. I just like looking at the basket of spools, when I'm gone I'm sure they will be thrown away.

patski

the guild I belonged to used these to put a small amount of thread on and then teach people with disabilities to hand sew. Not too much to get tangled or wasted if it was dropped

chairjogger

Nice memory. :0) thank you for sharing. I wish my grandmother saved her spools, she and my grandfather quilted together !

chairjogger

You all have fun stories, plus advice. My sunday school kids loved the faces for their flower color page !

starshine

You can probably donate them to a thrift shop. Moms of toddlers or preschoolers would love them for necklaces or a 'threading toy'. They could be painted or colored with permanant markers and used like the big wood beads. Also many groups looking for activities for kids might want them too. Or if you post on freecycle put a post there, I'm sure someone will want them.

starshine

Thanks for posting this site. It has so many ideas for so many things.

sewellie

If you have wood spools, I paint them and string them and drape them on my deck. Please don't throw the wooden ones away, I would buy them or trade them with you. Thanking you in advance. Ellie =chairjogger;6182252]I can't throw them away, after lots of machine quilting they really stack up.. Plastic, not wood any longer but thinking that there has to be a use for the spools.. Found mine ! I used only a few by comparison of what I own.. What do you do with you spools after quilting?
Face stamps one side, opposite side the corresponding face printed on circle and both glued to spool.[/QUOTE]

meanmom

I save the wooden ones and have them in a pretty jar on a shelf in my sewing room. I left a little bit of thread on them so they would be pretty colors. I have a few antique darning eggs on the shelf, and of course it is a quilt rack. The plastic ones I save for the art teacher at school. She makes things out of them. If she can't use them list them on free cycle or donate to a preschool. They make crafts etc out of them. I have a bag right now with about 50 of them to take to someone.

GammaLou

I was saving mine for a while to make a darling spool doll bed, but never got around to making it. Now I just save the wood ones and maybe I'll make that bed someday yet!!

shasta5718

You can also purchase cone thread holders that sit behind or st the side of your machine. I use these and love them. Most sewing shops have them or they are online.