I do this alot. Its great too when you want more expensive thread like Aurifil, you can get a group of people together to buy a bunch of spools and then divide them up onto bobbins. You get a variety of bobbins and depending on what you get its around a $1 a bobbin. You'd be surprised as to how long they last when appliquing or hand piecing. Like you said, alot more conveint.