David, I worked a project last year that had 375 bobbins, plus gimps, and bobbin management was the big challenge. I was able to get a Christina pillow a few years ago, and it was one of the older ones which had a brass rod behind the roller that supported a tray to hold tools, pincushions, etc. The rotating apron of the Christina makes it much easier to have a large number of bobbins in action, but the drawback is that when there are many, many bobbins, those not being used at the moment must be stacked on the side. I like the paddles with elastic for doing this, since I mostly use Binche bobbins. When you have a stack of bobbins on the apron, there is only so far you can move the apron before there is a strain on the threads of the stored bobbins.
So, I put my mind to it and designed "wings". My DH cut the shape and engineered a way to attach it to the brass rod. Now, when I am working with a large number of bobbins, I can stack those not being used on the "wings", on whichever side is appropriate. Then, the apron is clear for bobbins that are in use, and I don't have to bundle and unbundle nearly as often. I have some pictures of the big project on the Arachne Webshots page. You'll see various angles of the pillow and the wings - both empty and filled!! There were times when I had two piles of bundles on each side of the wings, with each pile being tied with a ribbon to hold them in place. > *http://tinyurl.com/7ekbc8e* I know that there have been several discussions on this list from time to time about making a similar pillow, since the Christina is nearly impossible to find these days. Maybe some of the people who have successfully fashioned a pillow with a rotating apron can add to this discussion. As far as your bobbin ideas, my own preference is that I like the organic nature of our bobbins. While you might be able to have more bobbins in a small space, unless you have tiny fingers, I suspect you would find it harder to pick up the right bobbin, and that would slow you down. But good for you for not being hide-bound to tradition! I like that!! Clay > How about making bobbins from something like coat-hanger wire with a > small knob on the top and an ever so slightly wider flat rectangle on > the bottom. That way they would adhere to the magnetic sheet. If they > adhere well, then the rectangle on the bottom may prove un-necessary. > I wonder whether the magnetic sheet durable enough to take repeated > pin holes though. Or if it's really cheap may be it could be disposable. > - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
