Shop History & Staff

Park Street - Front of the store Our location from 1998-2003	Just after our move to Webster Street in February 2004
After our 2005 paint job

March 27, 2008 marked our 10 year anniversary at Needle In A Haystack, having opened our doors on March 27, 1998. The shop was started from scratch vs. buying out an existing business. We were located on Park Street for the first 6 years but lost the lease on our space in January 2004. With a short lead time we were able to find a new store front on the other main shopping street, Webster. Our new locations offers us a lot more room with almost 4,000 sq. ft. of retail space and a long term lease.

All of the staff are stitchers themselves and while we don't claim to be experts in every technique out there, we are generally knowledgable about most stitching techniques and can usually give pointers to others who are specialists in a particular area.

Shop Owner - Cathe Ray

While reading was my first love as a child I've been doing needlework or crafts of some kind since about age 10. My grandmother taught me how to embroider and do some sewing but much of it I picked up on my own. Needlework skipped a generation in my family and both my sister and I do various aspects of it (she does absolutely beautiful crochet). I lived in Santa Fe, NM until I was 11, when we moved to California (mid '60s). I went to junior high and high school here and later moved to Seattle to attend college. I have a degree in Computer Science from Seattle Pacific University (1980), where I started out as Textile major in 1975. I came back to California in 1984 to work for a computer firm in Berkeley, at which point I moved to Alameda (and then married a native Californian).

In my early 20's, I traveled for a couple of years with two different gospel groups and saw a great deal of the country. It was during my travels withoneof these groups that I taught myself to needlepoint and spent many hours on the road making up projects. It was also during this time that I found my first counted-cross stitch patterns on the road. It wasn't until years later when I took an actual class in needlepoint that I discovered I'd being doing half-cross stitches vs. tent stitch on my needlepoint. I'd always wondered why my needlepoint pieces seemed so distorted when I was done and then I knew :-).

I have worked in the computer field since 1979, first as a software engineer and since 1994 as a manager of them. In 1997 I started seriously thinking about opening a shop and credit two people with really making me believe it was possible. First and foremost is my husband Carl, who believes that I can do anything I put my mind to. The second is C.A. Wells who helped me understand that I could build it as a business without giving up my day job. When you've worked in the computer field as long as I have it gets in your blood and it's hard to walk away from for many reasons. Once I'd made the decision it was possible it took many months to plan and when I started to look for someone to manage the shop I was most fortunate in finding Ada Haydon. Ada managed the shop from Jan. 1998, even before it opened, until October 2001, when she left to join her husband after his transfer back east. Ada was the first of many wonderful staff to come to the shop and it's really my staff who have made my vision of the shop come to life. Over the years I've also had the pleasure of making wonderful friends in our industry. Four of them, Jean Lea of Attic Needlework, Deb Clark of Stitchville USA and Roz Vancil and Jeannine Cheney of Acorns and Threads are my "partners in crime" - we're collective known as the Needlework Maffia. I have two other great shop owner friends in Linda Mendenhall of Old World Designs and June McKnight, who has sold her shop and is spending more time teaching. The friendship of these ladies is a godsend to me on a daily basis.

The shop has been a way for me to combine two very different aspects of my life and I'm the one that handles all the website and computer work for the shop (I'm really a geek at heart). After being layed off in 2001 I had been spending most of my time at the shop while looking for another computer job. In August 2003 I decided not to go back to the computer world and instead concentrate on the shop, taking over many of the day-to-day jobs others had been doing for me. In 2004 I had a small part in a Mythbusters episode about find needles in a haystack, which was great fun. In 2006 I became chair of the Counted-Thread & Embroidery within our trade organization so I serve on the board of directors of TNNA.

I work a number of needlework techniques such as cross-stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, hardanger, pulled-thread, drawn-thread, silk ribbon embroidery, goldwork, Bunka (Japanese embroidery) Brazilian embroidery, Punchneedle embroidery and a bit of crewel and Stumpwork. I also do machine embroidery on my Pfaff as well as gardening, baking, card-making and beading. I've rarely met a hand-working hobby I didn't like :-).

I'm at the shop almost every day except Thursday (and sometimes even then), when I try to work from home to do the web site updates. Even with 10 hour days, 6 days a week I love being a shop owner!

Shop Manager - Debi Anderson

Debi became the the shop's manager in October 2001, after serving as the assistant manager for the previous 18 months. Debi and Cathe tend to the day-to-day business for the shop such as ordering all those goodies we like to buy and Debi or Cathe are usually the ones who handle the shop e-mail. Debi is normally in the shop Tuesday through Friday.

I was born in San Francisco and have never left the Bay Area. Married 20 years in 2002, I have a son in college, and a daughter who's graduating from high-school this year. I took classes in college with the idea of getting a degree in Graphic Arts, but ended up working in the printing industry, running presses and doing pre-press work for PG&E until my children came along. Now they are both in College. When they were in high-school it was time to stop being a stay at home mom, and find a job I would enjoy. Ever since my girlfriend started me on cross stitch and needlepoint in high school, it has been my favorite hobby (just ahead of reading and chocolate). When I first visited Needle in A Haystack, I went home and told my husband that I'd found my perfect place... needlework and chocolate in one store (and a bookstore right next door)! Each time I visited the shop, I would mention how much I would like to work here, and Ada finally hired me!

Staff - Caroline Ewell

Caroline has been a customer since the beginning and had been helping out once in a while. We twisted her arm a little (not too hard mind you) and she joined the staff in January 2002. Caroline is a wonderful needlepointer and is a amazingly fast stitcher. We can't seem to give her enough projects! Caroline is in the shop on Thurday and an occasional Saturday. Here's Caroline's personal bio:

I had been a customer and model stitcher for the store since the shop opened. I was born and raised in Oakland, California. I was married to a wonderful man Robert, who passed away a few years ago. We have two great sons, both in their 20's. My home is in San Lorenzo and my favorite color is yellow.For many years I was involved in a Sea Cadet Unit in Hayward which is the Navy's youth program for young people ages 11 through 18. A truly rewarding experience which I enjoyed immensely. My MAD Passion is Needlepoint and has been for 30+ years. I prefer the handpainted canvases over the charted needlepoint but I do both and I am known as the "Queen of Halloween" (my favorite time of year). I love ALL Halloween canvases. I use all threads in my pieces no matter how hard they may be to work with so that I get the textures and colors that the piece may call for. I love watching it come to life. I also sew and quilt and since working at NIAH I'm developing a true love for Cross Stitch and counted thread work as well. At NIAH we all have a true love for tea and chocolate. It is truly divine. The girls in the shop have nicknamed me the "Aerobic Stitcher" as I will take a canvas home and stitch until it's done and bring it back, almost overnight. My "day" job is as a pharmacy technican for Long's Drugs in San Leandro but my love is needlework!

Staff - Sherry Menne

Sherry joined the staff in November 2002. She came to us from The Running Thread, where she'd worked part-time until they closed. Sherry works full-time at a Bay Area high tech firm during the week and is in the shop on Sunday. In addition to knowing a lot about cross-stitch and needlepoint, Sherry teaches our Temari classes and the collection of Temari balls we have on display were all created by Sherry.

Staff - Mary Heimann

Mary came to us in 2006 from Lacis and has a love all things needlework related. She's quilted for a number of years as well as done embroidery. We've taught Mary to love cross-stitch and needlepoint as well her other needle related hobbies. Mary is in on Saturday and Sunday.

Staff - Ali Gordon

Ali started with us in November 2007 as our primary mail order person, taking over that job from Cathe. When packages are mailed to you Ali has handled it at least from the pretty wrapping until it's sent to you and perhaps been the one to pull your order as well. We're getting her hooked on the needlework bug and she's a very fast learner!

Staff - Leila Crawford

Leila is our newest staff member, joining us in April 2008 after tiring a bit of work in the legal world. She's done embroidery for much of her life, having learned it in school in South Africa. She makes the most adorable scented sachets, which she sells on her website Lelia Jo Crafts. Lelia also a licensed Massage Therapist and Taro reader.

Helpers - Susan, Margaret, Cheryl, Rachele, Rebecca & Tamara

In addition to our regular staff our "helpers" are those of our staff who are not necessarily in on a regular basis, although some are here quite frequently. Depending upon when you're in the shop or call us, one of them might be here as well. They are all well qualified to help you with your stitching questions and if they don't know the answer, they'll know who does.

Why does your toll-free number have an extra character?

Many people have asked why the mnemonic for our toll-free number of 877-HAYSTACK has an extra character in it. The "K" is superfluous and without it the number would be 877-HAYSTAC (877-429-7822) which isn't nearly as easy to remember. This should never cause a problem with any phone system, which will ignore the extra digit. So feel free to use it if it helps you remember the number. But be careful, we've been told that leaving out the 'C' will get you a "steamy" phone call.

Shop Awards, Commendations & Associations

We were pleased to be the December 1998 shop focus on the Caron Collection web site (in our first year of business). In January 1999 we were given a Best of the Net award by the Needlepoint guide at The Mining Company. Also in 1999, we became a member of the Needlecraft Showcase, which includes many on-line needlework shops, distributors and suppliers.

Last updated May 8, 2008
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