well i tried painting the thread, actually i used magic markers. i was not liking it because the color wasn't all around the thread and it was hard to turn it and cover all sides. i used black, olive green and turquoise on a green base. it works in a strange and wonderful way after all, because i colored the six strands, then when i separated it in to 2 strands it kind of twisted around before and during sewing so i did end up with a lot of variation with a small repeat and kind of a hand drawn effect. i used it to embroider some sprouting seeds for a garden block, ( recycled block i pieced a while ago to test contrast stitching) i still need to experiment for the velvet quilting. i will need to choose an existing color that matches the velvet and play from there. i'll use paint this time. i did a before and after on the thread before separating and sewing to record the idea.