Spoiler alert! If you are already a fan of Colour & Cotton and have ordered your Stars & Stripes Mystery Box (but have not yet received it), STOP! This post contains some (fabulous) spoilers.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, or if you do and have been curious, read on. Colour & Cotton is relatively new on the hand-dyed fiber scene. They opened up shop in the fall of 2016. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, the studio is owned by Angela, who learned about professional dyeing while a fine arts student.
I'm writing this post because I'm a HUGE fan and have been so impressed with everything I've gotten from them. No other reason. I learned about Colour & Cotton from Arlene at Nanaland when she regularly featured their threads as part of her "Friday Five" posts.
Because I was so intrigued with Arlene's show-and-tell, I subscribed to Colour & Cotton's monthly hand-dyed thread club (all-colors option). It's so much fun to get 10 skeins each month, but they offer a 5-skein option as well (brights or primitives/neutrals). If you like to play with color and swap out threads in your stitching, this might be an option for you and a great way to build your collection. If you don't like swapping out threads, their hand-dyed linens (also offered in a monthly club or a la carte) are gorgeous.
Here's one example of their great customer service. I love the "dark indigo" thread. It's simply the perfect navy blue. I was worried I was going to run out so I went to their site to order more. They were sold out! Eek! So I emailed Angela, and you know what? She dyed more that week, just because I asked.
About the box
A few times a year, Colour & Cotton puts together seasonal "Mystery Boxes." I missed the first two but got my first one last Christmas. I loved it so much I promised myself I would keep ordering them.
Yesterday I received the first box of this year, the Stars & Stripes Mystery Box, a mini version of their full-size boxes.
Half the fun of opening a mystery box is the way Angela and the crew package everything with so much thought and care.
Here we go...
When I first opened the box, I was met with fireworks! Well, OK, not actual fireworks, but lots of blue and white krinkly paper that reminded me of a festive explosion of color (and something I can reuse in my next gift basket).
And then...
Gold tissue paper.... oh the suspense was killing me at this point!
Look! So pretty!
- 2 yards of vintage hand-dyed silk ribbon for embellishing an ornament
- 10 yards of hand-dyed silk thread in "Spacious Skies"
- 6 skeins (8 yards each) of hand-dyed cotton thread in a patriotic pallette
- A needle minder specially made for Colour & Cotton by Mad for Minders, packaged in the sweetest little gold gossamer bag
- Navy Kona quilting fabric for backing small finishes, drums and more
- 17" x 26" piece of hand-dyed stitching linen (I selected 40-count Newcastle) in a color that resembles old parchment!
- Tiny red snips from Paula Sibbald of Kelmscott Designs
A pretty decent haul, if you ask me! And now when I'm ready to do my patriotic stitching, I'm all set.
Later this summer, Colour & Cotton will be taking pre-orders for the Harvest Halloween mystery box (available in mini or full size), and in fall, they will take pre-orders for the Winter Wonderland mystery box (again available in mini or full size). They sell out fast.
I hope you have enjoyed my little bit of "fan girl" hats off to one of my favorite dye studios on Earth. They've brought a lot of joy into my stitching world, so I wanted to give them a shout-out to say thank you!
Thanks, Angela! You rock!
