You already know it. But, in case you have any doubts, I’m going to say it anyway: I’m a thread junkie.

I love embroidery thread! I’m drawn to thread like an ant is drawn to sugar. Like a bee is drawn to pollen. Like Icarus was drawn to the sun. And like some people are drawn to chocolate.

Put me amongst embroidery thread, and I am happy.

There are worse addictions in the world, so I suppose I’m not ashamed of the fact that I love thread so much. I am a little bit mortified, though, when I look at all the thread that I’ve accrued over the years and realize that there’s really no way for me to use it all. Ever.

So for the past year or so, I’ve stopped accumulating thread just for the sake of having, and I’ve been working solely from threads I own. While this may make me feel temporarily self-restrained, it doesn’t curb the addiction.

My determination to work from what I own has resulted in a few testy moments. Going into a needlework shop and facing a wall of thread, only to pass on all of it, almost causes me to break out in a sweat. The whole experience can be rather depressing.

Fortunately, my determination doesn’t prevent some very kind people out there from feeding my addiction (God bless ’em!). Recently, I received a pleasant package in the mail, containing several samples of a reader’s favorite thread. And when I opened the package and began to revel in the colors, I knew I had to share them with you!

Those of you who love over-dyed threads and vibrant colors, beware.

These are samples from Laura Wasilowski’s hand-dyed threads available on Artfabrik, sent to me by a different Laura, down in south Texas. Laura in Texas carefully wound some of her favorites onto little bobbins and popped them in the mail, because she just knew I’d love ’em. And she was right!

She also included a delectable skein of this particular thread:

Also from Artfabrik, this colorway is called Southwest Rainbow. If you love Southwesty colors, this skein of perle cotton #8 should just about do you in.

I love it! It’s everything I like about a Southwest color scheme…

…from the earthy oranges, yellows, and bright reds that reflect the heat of the desert and the blazing sunsets…

…to the brilliant blues and turquoises and the vivid greens of Southwestern skies and cool springs.

As the happy possessor of these gorgeous, fun threads from Artfabrik, I am, of course, faced with a dilemma: What should I do with them?

Once upon a time, I sketched a gecko, with plans to stitch the little beastie in Southwest colors and a myriad of stitches. Is it time to resurrect him? He was inspired by a little sculpture I saw when driving through the Land of Enchantment (that would be New Mexico). But he never got past the drawing stage. When I first beheld these threads, The Gecko was the first thing that sprang to mind. I can see it now: all the right colors, all the texture from the various stitches, and all with one skein of fabulous thread!

In any case, I like these threads from Artfabrik, and I suspect many of you will, too. If you haven’t seen them already, browse through their offerings here. If you scroll to the end of the page, you’ll find photos of all the colorways, to help you make that impossible decision on what colors you really want.

You’ll also find other resources on the page, at the top, including a link to this very nice reference image of needle sizes to match different sizes of perle cotton. If you’ve ever wondered what needle to use with what size perle cotton, this will come in handy!

Sorry to feed your thread addiction a little more, but I always figure it’s nice to know what’s available out there to meet our various stitching needs!

Hope you enjoy browsing!