Great ideas OKsewglad. I have a bionic gear bag with stuff for my sewing machines, but have been reluctant to make another because of the time it takes. Those placemat ideas would be a great alternative for the little stuff that tends to get lost but that you don't need to be able to just reach out and grab. Unfortunately I can see them getting buried under my stuff when I'm working on non-pieced projects. So, here's what I came up with:
The tin and the paper cups were already in my studio and now they are home to all my cutting stuff for that room. Plus, it doubles as a glue bottle holder for my current project. And it's tall enough that I'm pretty sure the layers of floating stuff will never get high enough to bury it! The lid holds the scissors and tweezers that I'm using for the current project right beside the project so they have a place to land which means I'm not just putting them down any old place on the table to get buried while I'm working on the collaged piece. And the ziplock baggies hold the already sorted but not being actively used colored scraps YAY!
Rob