For thread storage only, light-weight vinyl works well, too. I bought a few yards @ Joann's and use a pinking blade rotary cutter to cut strips about 2" wide off the vinyl sheet; then when I'm ready to store a cone or spool of thread that does not have it's own thread-lock device, I wrap just enough of the vinyl strip around the thread cone/spool to overlap ... the vinyl then sticks to itself. I store my thread knowing it can't unwind. A few yards of the thin vinyl is inexpensive, if I remember correctly.

I got little plastic zip bags about 2" x 3" or so, and I keep the thread and the bobbin together in the bag. I store the bags in a plastic container. I have also purchased color cards for my most frequently used threads - Aurifil, So Fine, and Masterpiece, so that I knnow at a glance if I even have the color I need. I just accumulated so many threads that a thread rack was no longer a viable option, and this system seems to work for me.

I just reorganized my thread, and I blogged about it here:
http://quiltiliciousjourney.blogspot...le-things.html

My "garment thread" is now in a box. My Husky bobbins are split between a small box in a drawer of my sewing table and the storage bin for my sewing machine (that holds all the feet and accessories). My Singer bobbins are in a couple of plastic bobbin cases my mother got 30+years ago.

My large spools of variegated thread are in the bobbin drawer.

I use pill boxes for my bobbins,the ones that has the days of the week, a bobbin fits great in them, and it very good to take with you if you need bobbins in a sewing class.

I have a container from Joanns that opens like a book and has man places to store your thread. You open it up and wala you see all your spools. I have another item from Joanns that is rubber and it has about 3 or 4 stacks & on each stack are slots for each bobbin, and they do not roll.

I have a container from Joanns that opens like a book and has man places to store your thread. You open it up and wala you see all your spools. I have another item from Joanns that is rubber and it has about 3 or 4 stacks & on each stack are slots for each bobbin, and they do not roll.

I bought one of those snap/lock container sets from Lowes. The ones you can snap more containers on. Then I take a hole reenforcement and stick it on one side of the bobbin and slide the end of the thread under it. Then I take a golf tee and put it through the hole in the bobbin and in the hole in the spool of thread. I got this idea from the Fons and Porter tip CD. I can then set the spool (Coats Clark -- large size) in the snap/lock container . Also I store my bobbins (with reenforecement holding the ends of the thread) in a 7-day pill container (one with straight sides works better than the one with the curved front. I can store five of my 221 bobbins in each days compartment (total of 35 bobbins). The lids snap closed and keep the bobbins in a orderly fashion. I use my AM/PM one-day pill container with the push down tabs for storing my smaller safety pins

Great idea Connie. Where would I get those supplies? Hint: you could make those and sell them to thousands of quilters, sewers, crafters.... :-D

I use a thread rack and i tacked a scrap piece of clot at the top with thumb tacks to let loosely hang over the whole thing. This keeps the thread dust free.

I put the end of the thread back into the knotch that the end is stuck in when you buy a new roll.

I store mine in about 3 plastic covered thread holders I bought at Joann's. I also store some in a quilting basket.