manicmike

I would have done the same. Nearly all thread was cotton in the distant past and it doesn't stand up well to the ravages of time. You can test it before throwing it away and if it breaks easily, it's no good to anyone.
Every seen people selling old cotton reels on eBay like they're valuable? Always makes me smile: They're no good when they're very old unless they were stored in a refrigerator and sealed in plastic the whole time, which is impossible of course.
Same problem is seen when you buy a 1930s or '40s garment. My friend Jenni shakes her head and says you have to be prepared to sew every seam over again with at least poly cotton thread if you want it to survive more than one wear.

Mitch's mom

On old bobbins I remove the thread and cut it into small pieces to toss outside for the birds to use in their nests. On my own bobbins if the thread level is down to less than a 1/4 full and I'm finished with the project it also gets stripped, cut and tossed outside.

quiltsRfun

That's what I'm doing since I found a bunch of partially filled bobbins in my bobbin drawer.

MaryMo

I wonder if anyone or anything in the long distance future will be digging into today's landfills for all sorts of treasures ..... what will they think of today's people.

QuiltingVagabond

Most likely not since the business end of the match is still there - good way to torch your machine LOL!

ckcowl

i do not consider myself a waster- but if i know i'm not going to use something i pass it on- i don't throw it away- i know that just because i no longer have a use for something doesn't mean someone else doesn't either. i save a lot of things- but i also go through the stuff & if i do not believe i'm going to be using it i offer it to someone who will use it. i try to keep everything out of the landfills i can. there are tons of people with less who would love to use what i no longer have use of...as for thread- when there is just a little bit left on a bobbin or spool i use that for hand stitching- saving the spools/bobbins with more on them for the machines. someone has a use for pretty much anything *some of us* would just toss in the trash- in my sewing room my trash bins starve. but i don't have tons of 'stuff' laying around gathering dust.

joobee

In my quilting I only use off white of med gray thread for piecing. I don't use colors often, but when I do I never wind a full bobbin. I just got a vintage machine with 10 bobbins which I pulled all the thread off of. No way to know how old the thread was or if it was dry rotted.

Purpleprint

I finally got where I only use gray thread on my piecing. Ended the problem of so many colors of thread.

Wanabee Quiltin

I use black material in some of my quilts so I do use up those odd pieces of thread. I only keep the basic colors, probably not more than 6 different colors right now. Before learning to quilt, I matched my thread to each project. Now I use gray and beige for most of my piecing and it works great. A friend who quilts all the time was given about 30 spools of dark eggplant thread and she swears it works on everything.

Janis

Here's a little twist on the subject of bobbins. A few years ago I bought a bobbin case with several different types of bobbins, all with different colored threads at a yard sale. I take it to my daughter's home with me and it has come in handy when mending clothing there, by hand or machine. I can use it as a top thread in place of the spool of thread on my machine when the top thread would be most apt to show, and the bottom thread doesn't matter as much. Also all of the different colors have worked in sewing my grandson's badges on his Cub Scout Brag Vest. I have become know as the 'fix-it grandma!'
As most of us now know, it isn't a good idea to wind one thread on top of another on the bobbins as it causes slippage.