Grandmother Susan's spool holder

Actually, I don't know what this is called, but my Great grandfather David made it for my great grandmother probably in the 1850s for her sewing.

All the thread spools are in view and you can pull a thread to use and never remove the spool from the container. Each layer can be removed for refilling. There is a pin cushion on top and it sits on little feet. I doubt that he had a pattern, but I have no idea if it was his own design or if it was something every housewife had in those days. In Pennsylvania he'd been a teamster working with his father hauling produce and goods into the towns from rural Adams County, Pennsylvania. He was also a carpenter and came through Illinois on his way to the California gold rush in 1850. The plans went awry when his companion died, so he went to work in Rockford, saved his money, and bought farm land between Ashton and Franklin Grove, Illinois. In Lee County, Illinois, that top soil is black gold.