Tips on Tuesday Week 2 - The Binding Box

So, about 15 years ago I got a watch for Christmas from my Uncle Tom -- the watch has since been retired (about 18 months ago), but the box lives on, repurposed as my binding box. It's pretty small and almost square, and 3.5x3.5x3. It's the perfect size for all of the important things that I need to be able to bind on the go. It's small enough to throw in my purse or in the cup holder of the car, yet big enough to find in the travel crate. It's really just the perfect box. It's been loved on a lot. As you will see, it has been sat on, bent and reanimated, but shows the wear and tear of 10 years of love. I swear those flaws make me love it even more.

Here she is....my binding box....

Just a simple squarish fossil watch gift box. My replacement watch came in a cheapo plastic box, which makes this one all that more special. Not to mention that this one has had some adventures. It has been to Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and about 35 states. It has traveled on planes as carryons, and in checked luggage, and even made a very short trip on a New York subway.

Inside, it has just the simple tools that are needed for binding, and as you can see they get jumbled around quite a bit. And yes, the box is bent see story above.

The inside tends to be a collection area for all kinds of little stuff. You can tell that I don't clean it out as often as I should as it has 3 colors of thread, which means the last time I cleaned it was 3 quilts ago. As you may know I do quite a bit of hand work, and I have all 187 colors of DMC 50wt thread for my hand work. About 5 years ago, my Mom gave me the best Christmas present when she used my side winder to spin off a bobbin full of each of the 187 colors, so I have a mini of every color available, so I can just grab the bobbin, throw it in the box and be on my merry way. This is super convenient if I'm not sure exactly what color I want to do the hand stitching in and I don't have time. I can literally take all the colors with me in a little bobbin box (I have two of the little art bin bobbin boxes that house the 187 bobbins). She even put little stickers on the bobbins so I can refill the color  easily. 

So, the box itself has a pair of the best scissors on the planet -- Karen Kay Buckley small precision scissors with a serrated edge. These are great for cutting out the corners and trimming off batting pieces. A box of thread heaven which has long since lost its top (let's not discuss the fact that this amazing stuff has been discontinued). It's my very last box of Thread Heaven and I'm freaking out about it a bit. A miniature jar of pins, and a miniature jar of needles. They are glass jars on the inside, with polymer clay flowers on the outside. They are made by a woman in Hawaii, and were available at Amidon Quiltworks before they closed. Black is size 10 straw needles, Green is 1.25 in long .04mm clover glass head pins. A TJ Thimble sterling silver Thimble in size 6.25 that fits me perfectly. And in today's case, 3 colors of thread -- rust/orange, navy and dark green. Which means that the last time I cleaned out this box was 5 or 6 months ago when I bound the Kansas Troubles quilt with the rust/orange/red binding. 

So, am I the only person with a binding box, or do you have one as well????