Originally Posted by
Weezy Rider
Don't buy a chest of colors. I had one and never used 3/4s of them. I'd give her a basic palette of colors and a gift certificate for the extra ones needed if you don't feel the basic palette is enough. Also give her a good color conversion thread chart.
Here's an opposing opinion
. I bought a complete set of colors (I think there were 200+) and for me, it's one of the best purchases I made. Many embroideries I do have subtle shading that use weird taupes, beiges etc. I would have never purchased a lot of these on my own. I also like the fact that if the mood strikes me at 9:00 Sunday night, I can embroider anything I want because I have the color. It probably boils down to what types of embroideries she will be doing. If it's mostly monograms, and children's designs, which usually have large areas of solid color, then get her a basic group of colors. If she's going to be doing more intricate designs, then a full set would be in order.
Another thing is that some machines are particular about the brand of thread. You might want to just get a couple spools of different brands to see what she and her machine prefers, then a "gift certificate" for more when she's had some time to play.