A couple of weeks ago I was kindly sent some of the Colourstreams products and agreed to write a review. Once I opened the packet I realised that I wanted to use their goodies in a project not just sample their threads and move on to other stitching tasks. I decided to work a small project which quickly grew into a larger thing and a mini challenge running here on the blog, but that is another story.
The Colour Streams website has a slogan “let the colour do the work” and this is very much the case with this product. As you can see the colours of their lush colours and seem to energise and simply put I found them to be inspirational.
When I assembled my hussif I used their silk rayon velvet and the hand dyed habotai silk. When you are embroidering on a crazy quilt block, you are stitching through two layers of fabric as most crazy quilters use the flip and sew method to assemble the block. If fabrics are too thick and bulky it makes it difficult to execute fine embroidery stitches. The silk rayon velvet proved to be a dream to stitch through. So much so I had no hesitation in embarking on a large floral spray that covered a good part of the area.
I also had no hesitation using their Silk Floss to create the Chained Bullion stitch petals for the daisies. These bullions are 12 wraps of the needle. So using this stitch puts both fabric and thread to a good test and both passed well. I liked using the Silk floss. It comes in 6 meter skeins and think most crazy quilters would delight in this thread.
The stem of this vine is worked using Colour streams Silken Strands. Once again this thread is 100% silk and I took great pleasure in working the stem in rope stitch. The thread is soft, consisting of 6 strands that can be split like cotton floss or used as is, which is what I did. I also added the foliage using Chained bullion stitches and the thread behaved just fine.
The grapes are worked in Aurora which is a thread that comes in 6 meter skeins. For crazy quilters this thicker thread is harder to work. I gave it a tough test as I was using it for French knots! The thread works fine under an experienced stitchers hand but it was sticking a bit on the needle. This often happens with any silk that does not have a firm twist. It is a reflection on the fiber not the brand.
I then gave the Aurora thread and the Exotic lights thread a fairer test on canvas. I am sure many stitchers who use the even weave techniques and/or the canvas stitches would delight in the coverage of this silk thread. Both the Aurora and the Exotic lights threads worked up well and looked lush (not flat and uninteresting) on the canvas.
Out of curiosity I also tested the Exotic lights thread on Aida and once again the thread behaved well. I could see the 6 meter skeins running out quite quickly however.
My favourite of their samples is Ophir (although as I write this the Silken strands is also on my faves list) I used Ophir thread in creating these cast-on stitch flowers. Readers who know cast-on stitch will also know that this stitch involves lots of wrapping and plenty of opportunity to knot, tangle and misbehave which this thread did not do! The silk sheen is great and it gave me much pleasure. Also the skein of 15 meters is a good length for me.
Apart from threads Colour Streams also have a range of interesting sequins which every crazy quilter should check out. The small daisy shaped sequins in the second photograph are samples sent to me. They are delightfully small. The sequins in the photo are secured with a seed bead.
All up I really enjoyed these products. Please note that apart from the free samples I do not gain financially from this review. In other words I am not paid to write them and I am not affiliated in any way with Colourstreams.
Sharon these are gorgeous! I assume the threads are all colorfast? Your work is stunning.
Renee yes they are colourfast- they are professionally dyed
Just really beautiful 🙂
WOW Sharon that is some kit! Yes the colors screamed (in a good way) at me when I saw them, they must be stunning in person. Your work always impresses and inspires me. _Kristie
Great review Sharon, Robyn will be doing a happy dance for sure. I love her threads too, especially Ophir and Silken Strands and the colours are to die for (pun intended, sorry). Your grapes are gorgeous, how on earth do you make your knots so perfect every time?
An excellent and informative review. Thank you, Sharon!
Great review! I loved the close up photos of your gorgeous hussif.
Thanks Marianne and all for your compliments
I can see you have fallen in love! Isn’t it lovely to work with thread that does not tangle and misbehave? The result is fantastic!
Queenie Silk does not tangle like for instance rayon – but looks as shiny as rayon
Great post, so informative and the sample/project images are enticing!
What great products! I absolutely LOVE those grapes, they look so convincing. A combination of good products, spot on design and skilled work(wo)manship!=)
No Source for that in germany. Can you spell envy?
I love Colourstreams. I have been using some if their products for several years. I used the Exotic Lights thread on a project on batik, and though I had to use shorter working lengths, I had no problems. I live their color selections also!
I’ve made some progress on my “Prairie” sewing kit. I didn’t get a lot of time on it this week. I had to rip out some work on it that just didn’t fit the theme of “Prairie”. You can see it here http://crazyvictoriana.blogspot.com/.
Such fabulous results, thank you Sharon for sharing your great work, I really appreciate it!