My friend Rose Anne visited today, and we spent about 3 hours sitting in the studio, talking, and stitching. I have been able to pass along quite a few things, both quilting and embroidery related, to her, but today it was a small gift for me. She gave me one of the "ort" boxes she was making for a sale next spring. What is an "ort" box you say? "Orts" are the ends of threads that are left, all over your clothes or your floor when you are sewing or stitching, mainly when you are hand stitching. Groups that meet in others' houses consider it rude to leave orts behind after a meeting, so you take some sort of container to put them in, as you work, for later disposal. This is not a new idea, and "ort" in an archaic word, but one often used by those who stitch. I even read a trashy novel once, where orts were the clue that lead to the killer. My old ort box was a "favour" I received at an embroidery convention in 1992, and have used ever since. It is made of folded wallpaper and folds down nicely to fit in my small sewing purse. The one I got today, is a little larger, and made of cloth, but will still fold down enough to go in my bag.
Here they are folded down, and then open, with a drink can to show size. Rose Anne had a whole shoe box full of them, and I was able to choose the most colourful one there. The old one has been deteriorating, and is now held together with Scotch Tape, so I had been wanting a new one.
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