How to Organize Thread Cones with a 2-Drawer Storage Box: Tips for Quilters
If thread cones are rolling around in bags and drawers, it is hard to find the right color — and exposed thread can pick up dust and dirt. The RNK 2 Drawer - 30 Cone storage box with handle - Blue is a durable, portable organizer that holds up to 30 thread cones neatly in one place, keeping your workspace tidy and your threads protected.
What Is This Storage Box?
This is a plastic thread storage box in a sleek blue finish, made by RNK Distributing. It measures 12 inches wide by 8 inches deep by 9 inches high, and it fits spools up to 3 inches in height. Inside, two smooth-gliding drawers hold your cones upright on spindles that are 1-5/8 inches tall, keeping each cone separated and easy to see. A convenient carrying handle on top makes the whole box portable, and because the carrier is stackable, you can add more boxes as your thread collection grows without giving up extra table space.
Why Quilters and Sewists Use It
Quilters, sewists, and embroiderers often work with many cones at once — different colors for piecing, quilting, and embroidery, plus spares of the neutrals they reach for most. Keeping those cones together in drawers means you can find a color quickly instead of digging through a mixed bin. Just as importantly, storing cones inside a closed box helps keep them away from dust, dirt, and other contaminants that can settle on exposed thread in an open sewing room. The two-drawer layout also lets you sort as you store, so everyday threads and specialty threads do not end up tangled together.
How to Use It, Step by Step
- Check your cone height first. This box fits spools up to 3 inches in height. Set aside the cones you use most often and confirm they fit that limit before you load the drawers.
- Open a drawer and place cones on the spindles. Slide one drawer out, set each cone down over a spindle, and let the 1-5/8-inch-tall spindles hold the cones upright and in place.
- Sort as you load. Use one drawer for your most-used quilting threads and the other for embroidery or specialty cones, or group cones by color family — whatever system you will actually keep up.
- Close the drawers fully. The smooth-gliding drawers should shut completely so cones stay protected from dust and dirt between projects.
- Carry or stack it. Use the handle to move the box from a shelf to your machine or to take it to a class or retreat. At home, stack it with other carriers to maximize storage space.
Practical Tips
Keep the box close to the machine you use most, so putting a cone away is as easy as taking it out — that one habit prevents most thread clutter. When you finish a project, return cones to the same drawer and position each time, so you build a mental map of where every color lives. If your collection grows past 30 cones, use the stackable design to add a second box rather than overfilling the drawers, which makes cones harder to lift out cleanly.
Care and Storage
The box is made of plastic, so a quick wipe is all it needs if the outside gets dusty. Store it with the drawers closed in your sewing area, stacked if space is tight, and keep cones inside rather than leaving them out on the table between sessions. That simple routine keeps threads cleaner and your work surface clearer.
Project Ideas
Before starting a large quilting project, pull the cones you plan to use and stage them in one drawer in the order you will use them. For embroidery work, dedicate a drawer to the cones for a single multi-color design so everything travels together by the handle. And for classes, retreats, or sewing days with friends, load one box with your project threads and carry it as a complete, self-contained kit.
Shop the RNK 2 Drawer - 30 Cone storage box with handle - Blue at Linda's Electric Quilters.
