Rainbows™, from Superior Threads, is a 40-weight trilobal variegated polyester thread with a one-inch color change interval. “Trilobal” means three sides. Rainbows™ is a 2-ply thread and those two strands consist of 48 micro strands. Each micro strand is trilobal, or three-sided, which reflects the light and results in a high sheen thread. It was developed as a replacement for rayon threads because it is stronger than rayon, is colorfast, and has a beautiful sheen.
A couple weeks ago, I told you about enrolling in Superior University and about my first lesson on bobbin work. Our assignment for Lesson 102 was to create a handmade greeting card by thread painting a small piece of fabric using Rainbows™ thread. The idea was to use the fabric as a starting point, follow the design lines and embellish the fabric with thread. How fun!
The thread in my kit was variegated from dark red through to golden yellow, so I chose a pale yellow tone-on-tone fabric printed with roses. Thread painting is really just machine stitching over an area until it is filled in.
I decided to thread paint over the darker shaded areas and leave the lighter sections without thread. The results truly brought the roses to life. Beads were added to the centers of the flowers. The background was stitched with a teardrop fill in pale yellow thread.
I misunderstood the instructions for creating the greeting card (hey! I’m a quilter, okay?), so my thread painted project became a postcard instead. But it was a lot of fun transforming a beautiful piece of fabric into a stunning image, just with thread!
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