I want to make one of those little scrap caddies that you keep by your sewing machine to stick your needles in and they have a pocket for stray threads. I can't seem to find a pattern anywhere for one and wondered what you would use in the weighted part of the pin cushion? I thought kitty litter then thought better of that since the dust might come through. Rice would work but would it damage the pins and needles?

I have one that I never use except to kick it off the table. If you want it, send me your addy.

Here is a nice one to make. I use mine all the time. It's very handy.

http://www.sewmamasew.com/media/blog...nOrganizer.pdf

The one that I made is very similar to the link that BellaBoo listed.

I used a 4" x 4" ceramic tile (from Home Depot, Lowe's, etc) which gives a firm and heavy base that won't fall off of your sewing machine cabinet or table. I made a "pocket" for the tile to fit in and left room in the pocket so that I could stuff the top of it firmly with polyester batting for the pins.

Mine is heavy - it must be weighted with something like sand. It has that rubbery drawer liner stuff on the bottom, so it stays in place. It looks sort of like that one from SewMamaSew.

Also, the woman who made it for me machine-embroidered my name on the front of the bag. :-)

Nice pattern.

I just use one of those coffee cups that somebody thought I really needed cause it was cute. :roll: I bet I have 15 of them! It is really handy, stays in place and I just dump it when it gets full. It also holds the seam ripper and a marking pen if I need one.

I bought a travel water bowl for small dogs and it's made from tent fabric. It's about the size of a cereal bowl and deeper. It's very stiff but flexible. It was on clearance for $1 and I take it to classes and workshops. It works great as a catch all.

I did a class at LQS and made one. We filled ours with sand. I use it all the time.

I have seen them with either the tile and no pin cushion or filled with sand. Our outreach group uses the ones with sand, and I really like those.