
If you came upon me at my stitching chair, you would discover that ORTs and I do not have a good relationship. They fall all over the floor, most of the time, or they overflow whatever container I have, or I put the container someplace and can’t find it.
I am just as bad with threads, scissors, needles, and tacks. All will disappear on the floor or inside the chair, rarely to resurface.
Yes I could do something about it, but then we have to deal withe the cat. Darcy is cranky, he likes me to use a blanket, even when it’s hot. So something that sits on the arm of the chair either gets knocked down by him or by the blanket, so those fabric ORT containers won’t work and small bowls will knock over and possibly break.
I bought this Itty Bowl from Needlepoint Tool Time and it has solved so many of my problems.
A repurposed quilter’s tool, the bowl is just under 4″ in diameter and made from lightweight colored aluminum. It has a weighted bottom that’s magnetized and that holds the bowl up almost 1/2″.
Because it’s weighted, the cat can’t knock it over. Because it’s magnetized I can put needles, tacks, and scissors in it and not lose them. That way I have the scissors there to cut my threads.
I just throw my ORTs in as I get them. I also use the bowl to hold my current thread, so I don’t lose them. On a project earlier this week, it neatly corralled a spool of Kreinik after the previous two had fallen through the chair and completely unwound.
At the end of the evening, I can gather everything up, throw out the ORTs and put the bowl on the end table.
You can buy small magnet bowls many places, including hardware stores, but be sure to buy one with a weighted bottom that is not really small. This increases the bowl’s usefulness.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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