does anyone have a good heavy metal or otherwise cone thread holder for large cone threads? one that sit ontop of your machine table/cabinet? i need a better one that the light weight plastic one i have and looked at pauls metal cone thread holders. i may wait to go to a quilt show next September because i've had no luck online so far. other than pauls site but would like to feel one before buying.

Look in the phone book for welding/metal fabricators. Take the plastic one to one and say you want it made from metal with an extra heavy base. It won't cost that much and will last several life times. If you find a creative welder then that's icing on the cake.

thanks. i've asked my hubby before if he had some metal he could add to the base but he's never done anything.
Ha! look what i found.
http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?prod_id=700
i have their catalog but didn't notice this one. mine is black plastic. I may call them and see if they can tell me more. it's not expensive. the flower looking heavy metal ones i found on Pauls' site are $40.00 and up.

I put mine behind my machine in a big glass canning jar.

But I did have the weirdest thing happen this morning when I was winding bobbins. I had the giant thread cone in the same jar as a small cone of invisible thread; I only threaded the cone onto the bobbin winder and somehow it picked up the invisible while it was going and wound them together! Like some kind of weird thread magic ... I had to take a razor blade to the thread to get it off the bobbin. :!:

I keep my thread in a vase. :D

Im also a welder by trade as well as a quilter if you dont find what your looking for let me know. Chris

I also have one of those flimsy plastic thread stands. I put a finished circle of wood on the bottom with a couple of screws thru the base of the stand...I think that the wood was from Michael's or someplace like that. Might have been from decopage.

If that isn't heavy enough, add a few metal washers to the spindle. Works good now......

Get a good size heavy coffee mug and put your cone in that...it works, Someone on the board posted that hint and it works great :D

Try "Long Creek Mills" they have a very heavy spool holder price $7.59 I have one its far from flimsy, also very good thread cotton and polyester.
Jill.

I have seen them at my local sewing machine shops (all three shops), so you might try yours.

I love mine. The plastic ones are not worth the trouble. I

thanks Jill, i just ordered the one at LCM you mentioned.

I bought my heavy one at the quilt shop also. Not very expensive and I love it. I now only use the big cones for piecing as the thread turns out to be way cheaper in the long run.

I bought the one from Clotilde, I love it! I bought one of the plastic ones from Hancock's in desperation one night, but it was worthless. The heavy one from Clotilde is well worth the money, I've been able to use my cones with no trouble at all.

Hope this endorsement helps you decide. :-)

I made mine out of wood. Wooden block on the bottom and a dowl in the middle. worked great until I moved and lost it.

I have one of the plastic ones, it was constantly falling over and I complained to my DH. He took it to his garage, when he brought it back he had weighted it down. He turned it over and used several NUTS (like you use on bolts) all the same size and used a strong type glue and placed them like clock numbers around the bottom of the base. It now stands very steady and no more tipping over. The bolt nuts are the same thickness as the void in the bottom of the base. I have used it for several years like this with no problem.

when i travel with my janome jem, i use a coffee mug. but at home i use those heavy metal stands, one for each table ... total three. i got mine from atlanta thread supply. much cheaper than clothlda because they sell to the trade. look for their website. i get their hardcopy catalog. if you can't find them, pm me.

i actually ordered the one from LCM. almost got the one from Clotilde but figured the one at LCM said commercial. so we'll see how it fairs when it's delivered. should be the same. then i can trash my plastic one!
thanks all. :mrgreen:

Thanks Ruth for remembering my suggestion :D Then clip a binding clip (like the ones we use to clip the backing to a table when basting the 3 layers together before quilting) to the lid of your sewing machine and thread the thread through it before threading the machine - prevents the thread from hanging up and breaking.

www.atlantathread.com

thanks, joanne

Threadart.com sells the metal ones, and they are not that expensive. I got one and it's mounted on my sewing table beside my machine. :)

I have the metal cone thread holder that you showed the link for. It works great! I never have trouble with it moving or falling over. I highly recommend it.

I got my cone thread holder yesterday from LCM. not bad. i may add a bit of tape to the end of the tall thread guide to keep it in the hole upright. wants to tilt a bit and that will drive me nuts. but it's nice and heavy and that was what i wanted. i'm sure it's like the one in Clotilde but black base.

JoAnns has the heavy one, at least when I went to JoAnns last time.

I had a plastic one that was a pain in the you-know-what when you tried to use it. Then I found the metal one at a sewing machine store and bought it. It works beautifully! I still have the plastic one but it's just collecting dust. I may have try the block of wood trick to see if I can use it on another machine. Thanks for that tip--didn't think of doing something like that myself.

My DH made one for me from a wooden plate from a craft store (Hobby Lobby?) It sits on a plastic turntable, but is heavy enough it doesn't move. He got 3 plant stakes (heavy wire) with loops at the top to hold flowers/ plants upright so they won't fall over, drilled holes in the plate & glued them into the plate. Then he lined up & glued wooden thread spools, with dowels stuck into the center of them, around the outside of the plate. He used a grinder on the thread spools to get the shape he wanted. I use it for my embroidery machine and it works GREAT! Description is not very good, so here are some photos.

By the way, I love this group! Ramona

I ordered mine from a catalog. Now I see them in Joann's store all the time; I could have gotten one from there, with no shipping and handling fee, plus used a Joann's discount coupon. This is a direct "slap in the face" to my bargain hunting pride. I do use and like the spool holder, though.

Try checking at your local quilt shop. That is where I got mine.

My DH bought mine at an antique shop a few years ago when we were on vacation in Northern CA. It's made of iron and holds two large cones of thread. I love it! It's sturdy and I just love antiques. I use my plastic one when I go to classes since it's light weight.

Thank you for all the information on the cone holders.

I have the heavy metal one as shown on the Clotilde site. Only, mine has the black base. I love it.