Orts And A Happy Find

When we moved two years ago, only two things broke.  One was a wineglass which I think may have broken in transit.  No big deal, easily replaced.  The other was my thread bucket.  It slipped right out of my hand as I was unpacking it and shattered into many pieces.  This one WAS a big deal.  Let me explain.  My thread bucket is not a bucket at all, but a little crystal dish that was given to me by my mom.  It was always right at hand on an end table to put all of my orts, or thread ends into as I stitched.  Our son was pretty small at the time, and he was the one who gave this elegant little bowl the name "Thread Bucket".  The name stuck.  So you can see why Thread Bucket's demise hit me hard. 

Every once in a while, I'd go on Ebay and see if I could find a replica.  There were lots of pretty crystal dishes there, but not one that resembled my thread bucket.  Until a couple of weeks ago.  Yes, there it was!  Maybe not exactly the same, but pretty close!  So I bid and won it!  For ninety nine cents!!  It's slightly smaller and more rounded, but the same design.  And yes, I realize it's not the one that my mom gave me, but the story about this find is something that Mom would have loved:  Finding another one AND getting it for a bargain price!  It now sits at my right hand on the end table next to my stitching spot.  Mark has taken to calling it "Thread Bucket Junior".

One stitching term that I wasn't familiar with until a few years ago was "orts".  I'd been calling them "thread pieces" or "thread ends", so was surprised when I found out that there was an actual term for them!  The word "ort" is short for "old raggedy threads".  I also looked the word up in the dictionary and the definition was "a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal".  (Huh, food left over?)  But I found it funny that this definition also involved a scrap.  And when I realized that many stitchers saved their orts and displayed them in pretty containers, I decided to join the fun.  My jar is sure to be filled up with lots of colorful orts as I work on my Kitty Kalendar.  I'll post an update soon.

Ort Cat