a muleta-which is a carrying case woven of bamboo strips, make in Mexico. It's like a small suitcase/totebag which I found at goodwill. I lined with neutral fabric, putting side pockets in various sizes to hold rulers, rotary cutter, scissors. Also sewed elastic loops on the sides to hold thread. I can even put my FW in it. I use pencil boxes to hold my rotary cutters.

Lots of dollar stores have collophane. Look at christmas time for red. Good luck. I also find lots of discounted palstic bins drawers and organizing containers at the dollar general store micro fiber dust cloths 4 for 2.00 for keeping sewing room dust free.

Thanks, olebat!

Empty prescription bottles for bobbins.

Those little silica packets that come in vitamin bottles and in new shoes and new purses. I put them in drawers with my fabric to absorb moisture.

Skirt hangers to hold finished small projects like wall hangings and table runners in my closet- no fold lines!

Pants hangers to hold long yardage in my closet- just fold over the hangers.

4 foot x 8 foot vinyl lattice (like for climbing vines) mounted on the wall holds all my quilting stencils. I use small S-hooks on it and wow, it holds hundreds of stencils.

Coffee filters to hold thread snips and lil junk on the sewing table and on the longarm machine.

Small paintbrushes to clean the bobbin area on sewing machine and longarm, and bigger paintbrushes to clean the rails on the longarm frame.

School chalk for marking, and the cheaper the halk, the easier it brushes off. I like the Dollar store chalk.

Batting scraps for brushing off the school chalk markings.

Clear plastic sheet protectors and dry erase markers from Staples. I take a photo of my quilt and a photo of my block, closeup. Put the prints of the photographs in the plastic sheet protectors, and then draw quilting designs on them with dry erase marker. I erase the designs with batting scraps. I just keep auditioning different quilting designs until I find what I like the best.

Instead of red glasses - which I admit are way cool - I use my camera to look at value. I set it for black and white and look at the fabric on the LCD screen or through the view finder. Can take a picture if I want, even!

No one has mentioned (or maybe I missed it) pizza boxes to separate projects....easy to stack....and to carry. I went to our local pizza restaurant asn asked if they would sell me a couple and she asked if that was all I wanted; so I said to make it 4. She gave them to me FREE.

I don't have room on my wall for a spool holder, but I have lots of shelves, so I use a graduated spice shelf (one that has 3 levels and telescopes out from maybe 6" to 12" that I found at the Container Store) for stacking my thread spools and cones.

Great idea to insert a Q-tip for stacking a matching bobbin on top of the smaller spools. I haven't mastered a method for matching up cones and bobbins yet....any suggestions?

On some cones, a golf tee works with the tee part down in the cone and the spike sticking up to hold the bobbin. I have been using chopsticks stuck in the cones to hold my bobbins on top.

We quilters are so inventive. I love finding uses for unexpected items that were originally for another use.

On what????!!!!! Your pattern book? Your husband? To anyone with dumb question??? I'm outa here!!!! :-P

Old glass insulators for weights to hold anything down.