The spools are mainly used for serging and longarm quilting, but sometimes "just the right color" is on the spool, so, I put a med sized (coffee) can behind my machine and put the spool in it, then thread the machine.
The spool does the flopping in the can and does not tip over and roll off the table or any of the other fancy tricks it can do without being contained.
I also have a dowel with a hole drilled in the bottom that fits on the thread holder mounted on the machine (made for this purpose), but don't use it, I like the can better.