I am for quick, cheap and simple. I squash to elongate and then bend a coathanger into an upside down "V". I drape the hanger over my big sewing table lamp shade, with the hook bent into a partial circle, on the ouside of the shade. With the cone placed directly under the hanger, the thread comes off the cone with no mess or fuss. The thread moves smoothly, from the height of the shade down to my machine, some 18 to 24 inches.