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