Rodney

Thanks for all the great ideas.
Regm: That bag is a great idea. I wish I had seen it before I started.
PenniF: I like the idea of the precut strands. Certainly food for thought.
Jeanette: I love your system. When I get that many colors of floss I'll have to do something like that. Right now my choices are more limited. I keep adding as I need it.

I don't know how much time I'll be able to embroider due to the endless interruptions, IV, etc but I would far rather bring a project along and have it available than not. 4 years ago I spent a month in the hospital with nothing but books and TV. It got old in a hurry. I didn't sew then. I want to be better prepared this time.

I put together a zippered box last night. I'm still working on trimming out the inside. It's about 5 1/2" x 8" and 3" deep and opens like a clamshell. A 20" zipper just fits. I should be able to fit a needle book, pin cushion and scissors in it and I'll be wrapping my floss on cards. That still leaves ends to be tangled but at least it won't be a tangled up mess of individual skeins.
Maybe not a perfect solution but it will get me by and I'll learn what I like and don't like about it. Almost anything beats what I'm doing now. At some point I'll switch to a system like Jeanette's for long term use.
Thank you everyone,
Rodney

bearisgray

Good luck with whatever it is that you need to be hospitalized for.

I hope you have a speedy, " uneventful" ( no infections, etc.) recovery.

KLO

Looks like you've worked out a plan. For another time, someone recently posted (somewhere!) that they used a tote used for traveling. It could hang up and it was used to store bathroom items while traveling but the poster used it for going to a class. Looked like it worked out really well and very similar to the Tag-A-Long from the looks of it.

Good luck with the surgery. I will definitely keep you and your doctors in my prayers. May it all work out to the best that it can.

tessagin

You may want to pack a telescope magnet in case you need to pick up a needle or pin. Mine is about 8" and telescopes to 3 feet. Therefore you could put it into your case diagonally. When I get around to embroidery, I have my needles loaded and attach them to the fabric outside of the hoop around the edges. I usually had 2 needles of every color to start with or enough to do a certain section, loaded and ready to go so I didn't have to stop and load every time. Good Luck and sending prayers from the Gulf.

KLO

Rodney, I forgot to mention this gadget! It might be too late for you to get one but I love it for having needles all set to go with them already threaded and don't have to worry about tangling. It's really handy and not very big. If I lived closer to you, you could borrow it to see if you really want one.

http://www.connectingthreads.com/too...e__D82032.html

mckwilter

I have started putting each skein of embroidery thread into one of those little ziplock snack bags, punching a hole in the bottom and putting them on a key ring.

Another idea is the Thread Bag on the Karen Kay Buckley website http://www.karenkaybuckley.com/store.php?cat=12

Each of the clear pockets has a leather strip above it. When you put your spool in the pocket, you thread a needle, push it from inside to outside, and pull the thread off the spool as you need it. You never have to take the spool out of the pocket. If you could wind your embroidery threads on sewing bobbins, you could do the same thing. If you usually use two or three strands, you could separate the strands before you wind them on the bobbins. The large zipper pocket at the bottom will hold your scissors, needles, pens, pins, etc.

Auntie V

I have an old CD zippered case with several "pockets". It would work great for a sewing kit for a trip to the hospital. Just remember you will not need all of the thread you own. You can also make a second "kit" to have ready for someone to bring to you if you finish the first project. A gallon Zip lock bag with the thread & project.