Happy Friday the 13th & Valentines Day!

Hopefully you are one of those in the US who gets President's Day off on Monday and gets a long weekend. More time for stitching!

Debi and I had a wonderful time in Nashville catching up with friends and buying goodies. The weather was unseasonably warm there. We arrived on Thursday evening to 38 degrees and by Saturday it was 70 degrees! Everyone from the mid-west and other colder climes as thrilled. We were a tad disappointed to not see snow - it's one of the few places I travel that gets it. But with everyone else so happy with the warm weather it was kind of hard to grouse about no snow.

CA Wells - February Classes

We still have some room in CA's classes at the end of the month. Two of the projects are new - the Chocolate Box and Nantucket Etui. The Chocolate Box is a project from her 2009 Legacy event in Belgium and the Etui is from the fall Nantucket Legacy event (which I attended). The other project is an oldie-but-goodies we had requests for, the Acorn Scissors Purse. The first two use CA's 4 Sided Stitch join technique and the Acorn Scissors Purse uses a different join. If you've wanted to take a CA class and not had the chance be sure to check these out. As with all of CA's classes, you MUST attend to get the kit - we are not allowed to make any exceptions. There is no pre-stitching required for any of the classes but you should sign up at least a week in advance so CA can make enough kits.

On Friday night CA will be available for a Finishing workshop. If you've got one of her designs stitched and need help getting it Finished we'll have everything set up to help you do that with CA in attendance. I personally have a couple that are ready to go so I'm hoping I'll get them done that Friday night.

You can find out details on each of these classes on our website or just give us a call.

Finishing Workshop Fri. Feb 27th 6-9pm $10	Acorn Scissors Purse Sat. Feb 28th 9:30am - 12:30pm $150
Chocolate Box Sat. Feb 28th 1:30-4:30pm $225	Nantucket Cottage Etui Sun. Mar 1st 9:30am - 4:30pm $275

Spring Trunk Shows

We have a couple of very different trunk shows coming this spring. Later this month we'll be having a trunk show from Beth Gantz Designs, who does contemporary needlepoint design with bright, fun colors. Most are 5x5 on 10 or 13 mesh (depending upon the design) so stitch up quick. Whether you like aqua/brown, red/green, lime/brown, black/lime or lime/pink these are fun color combinations. Beth's trunk show will be from February 21st to March 15th.

March brings us an Easter trunk show from Associated Talents, which is owned by Carol Gantz (also Beth's mom). While AT does a wide variety of needlepoint designs we decided that an Easter show was just the ticket for early Spring. So we'll have baskets, carrots, eggs and all manner of Easter fun. Our Associated Talents Easter trunk show will be from March 14th to Easter.

We will be offering a 10% discount for canvases purchased during the trunk show. Come by and check them out.

February & March Classes

We have Lucy Barter teaching a class for us in February and in March. Lucy is a graduate of the Royal School of Needlework and has been living in the states for a while now. In addition to her duties teaching for the RSN (she teaches their certification courses in the US) she also teaches just about any needlework technique you can think of. She is an amazing needleworker and a great teacher.

Lucy will be teaching a Beginning Goldwork class February 21st ($140) and Beginning - Intermediate Blackwork class March 21st ($125). Each class is a full-day class and everything you need for each class is included in the price - as well as lunch.

Sherry will be teaching Temari Level 5 on March 7th. This is the 5th in a series of Temari classes she's been teaching and is for the intermediate Temari student. You will need to come to class with a wrapped ball ready with an 8-way divide. Then the fun begins.

There were plenty of new goodies to bring back and to order from the show. We brought back 2 suitcases and ordered more items to be shipped over the next few weeks. Some of the new items are listed below, along with other new items that have come in recently.

English Embroidery 'Twixt Art & Nature	Dessins DHC Père Noël
Butterfly Couture Heart Pins Halloween Pins	Hawkins House MR 1811
The Heart's Content Infinite Tulip Needlebook	Jeannette Douglas Designs Pineapple Biscornus
Kelmscott Designs Acorn Needleminder	Kelmscott Designs Sarah Moon Box

• Books - English Embroidery from the Metropolitan Museum of Art - 'Twixt Art & Nature
  
• Bent Creek - The Tree of Me, Love Letters Clip Art, Photobooth Snowmen
  
• Blackbird Designs - Bluebird Thread Keep, My Heart is True, Small Token, Wild Rose, By The Chimney With Care, Love Is In The Air, March of the Daffodils
  
• The Cat's Whiskers & Dinky Dyes- Cupcakes, Glorious Cupcakes!, Scissors By Any Other Name, Victorian Memories Chaise Longue, For My Friend Scissors Pocket (Ltd. Ed.)
• Charland Designs - Pewter Bell Pull Hardware; Garden Angel, Birthday Wishes, Hearts A Plenty
  
• Dessins DHC - Père Noël
• Erica Michaels - Little Bit O' Spring, Little Bit O' Summer, Random Threads, Serenity, To The My Heart
  
• Giulia Punti Antichi - The Frog Prince, Italian Bouquets, Everlasting Love, D6 Etui (Finishing kit & bead), D7 Vario Biscornu (& bead), Halloween Sewing  Set (& Halloween Pin Set), Cameo Waxer, new Thimble
• Hawkins House - MR 1811
• The Heart's Content - Fruitful XV Watermelons, Fruitful XVI Peaches, Carrot Scissors Fob, Strawberry Scissors Fob, Sewing Clamp - Sampler Bits, Pink Tulip Scissors Fob, Tulip Biscornu, Infinite Tulip Needlebook
• Hinzeit - Bowling, Chocolate, Happy Easter, Vanity Plate, Easter Egg Hunt
• Indigo Rose - A Scottish Prayer, September, Walking to St. Ives
• Jane Greenoff - The Embroideress Sampler, The Secret Garden
  
• Jeannette Douglas Designs - Take Time to Read, Pineapple Stitches, Pineapple Biscornus & Scissors Fob
• Just Nan - Dewdrop & Embellishments, Strawberry Heart & Embellishments, Flirty Birds
  
• Kelmscott Designs - Acorn Needleminder, Acorn Threadkeep, Rondelle Thread Winder, Little Gems Scissors, Sarah Moon Ackworth Box
• Long Dog Samplers - Tyler's Lion
• Lizzie Kate - A Chicky Easter (Ltd. Ed.), ABC Lessons
• Milady's Needle - Le Jardin Accoutrements, Floss Tag-Alongs, Milday's Acorn Box
• Primitive Traditions - sampler tiles (actual tiles with sampler images)
• Rosewood Manor - Baby's Birth Sampler, Flowers, Plants & Fishes, Heart Tree Necklace, Watch Over Me
• Teresa Layman Designs - several new miniature knotted rugs
  
• With My Needle - ES's Floral Sampler, A Fair Maiden's Etui, A Pair of Pin Cubes, A Petit Sampler Etui (2009 Collaboration)
• The Workbasket - Angels Sampler, Cat Roundel, House of Alphabets, Polar Quakers, Workbasket of Seasons
  

These have not been added to our on-line catalog yet. So stop by the store, give us a call or e-mail us if you are interested in any of these or other new items. Most of them can be found on the designer's website if you want to look at photos of them (I'm still working on that part as usual).

You can always check for new charts from many of the designers via the Hoffman Merchant Mall. Check our What's New Blog for the latest info.

Just Nan Over The Top Tins 2009

We still have some room for sign-ups in the new 2009 Limited Edition series. Snow, which is the first of 4 designs, comes with the tin design and an adorable little mitten design as well.

There will be 3 more tins released throughout 2009. Each tin is $38 and the package comes with the tin, tin design, finishing supplies and an additional design that goes with the tin. Fabric and thread are not included in the chart pack.

You can sign-up for the 2009 OTT Tin series via the on-line catalog or by calling the shop. If you wish, you can also sign-up for the fabric and/or threads to be sent with the chart pack as well. Supplies are limited so don't forget to sign-up now!

Don't forget our Grab Bag for Food Donations offer - bring in non-perishable food items for donation and get a grab bag! We've been happy with the donations so far and given all the very old inventory we have that could use a good home - this is a win-win for us, for you and for the Alameda Food Bank. They have kindly loaned us a big, red bin that's by the door for food donations.

If you missed this note in the last newsletter, I have added a search able thread catalog to our on-line catalog. The usual pages are still there for when you need to order several of the same type of thread, but if you're just looking for a single thread or you're not sure who makes it, you can search for it easily. Just use the search box on the main Threads page or in the on-line catalog thread page. If you don't find a thread in the search able version it may mean that it's no longer being made or we don't carry it. The regular pages list threads no longer available (e.g. Faux Fur from Rainbow Gallery) but they will not show up in the search able catalog.

My Craft Room makeover has been on hold for a bit with my traveling but I have spent more time stitching on my Sailor's Wife Sampler by Brenda Keyes. My houses are just about complete and then it will be on to the trees (that odd looking brown thing on the right is the trunk of a tree).

I have not been working on my Book of Ink Circles because after getting about 10% of it done I decided I didn't want to do it on 35 count, but on 40 count. So I've cut my fabric apart and I'll leave that portion at the store if anyone wants to see one of them in progress. I'm doing a sample bit on Lakeside Linens 40 count Navy Bean to see how I like it this time and I think it's probably what I'll re-start it with. Dot (one of our BoINK stitchers) is caught up with hers and is just awaiting the last section to be released. I'll see if she'll be willing to let me include a photo when she's done.

Here's hoping you have a relaxed and warm stitching week!

Happy Stitching,

Cathe
...and Debi, Caroline, Lelia, Mary, Ali, Jennifer, Marty, Sherry, Susan and Margaret

510-522-0404 *  877-HAYSTAC *  877-429-7822
1533 Webster Street  *  Alameda, CA 94501

February Shop Hours: Tuesday 11am - 8pm, Wed - Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sun 1pm - 4pm
Monday By Appointment

Sign-up for one of our new Stitching Has Its Rewards cards next time you're in the shop or with your next mail order! See our website for more details.

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