Stitching Greetings,

We're experiencing another of our warm spells in the SF Bay Area. Today it's almost 65 degrees, and is a nice break between the rain (which we need a lot more of). So it's a nice day to have the windows open and air out the house. I'm still working on my sewing/craft room reorganization and I keep unearthing projects I've either forgotten about or wondered where they had wandered off to. I've got a box of things I'm passing on to my staff so they are happy with my efforts at cleaning things up (as am I).

CA Wells - Classes This Weekend!

CA will be bringing a couple of extra kits if anyone decides to see about signing up at the last minute. We're looking forward to a fun weekend.

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

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

March Classes

Lucy Barter, who is a graduate of the Royal School of Needlework will be back in March to teach a Beginning - Intermediate Blackwork class. The class will be held March 21st ($125) and will help you learn not only the basics of Blackwork, but how to do shading and use patterns. This 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.

New Product

Last year Access Commodities introduced Gilt Sylke Twist, a very unique thread. This year they have introduced Silk Wrapped Purl. Purl is a type of Goldwork thread and this has some of the same properties but the surface is Silk. Another great couching thread to add to your thread stash. It comes as 1 yard in an acrylic container for $7.75. At present we have Indigo, Yellow Green, Straw and Red. These are not in the on-line catalog yet, so give us a call or send us an e-mail to order them.

In addition to other product releases this month the following thread vendors have released new colors. You'll find them all in our on-line thread catalog.

Gloriana

• 12 Strand Silk: Old Gold (169), Milk Chocolate (170), Cafe Au Lait (171), Arroyo (172), Green Tea (185), Winter White (190), Peacock (191)

Crescent Colours

• Floss: Cayenne, Dublin Bay, Four Leaf Clover, German Chocolate, Ribbon Red, Stepping Stone, Sugared Violets, Sunflower
• Belle Soie: Apricot, Briar Patch, Cobblestone, Golden Oak, Harvest, Herb Garden, Mahogany, Miss Green Jeans, Peaches 'n Cream, Puritan Blue, Sagebrush, Terra Potta

Week's Dye Works

• Floss: Artichoke, Baked Apple, Bullfrog, Peach Fuzz, Stepping Stone

The Gentle Art

• Sampler Threads: Deep Forest, Garden Gate, Rose Garden, Summer Shower, Wood Trail
• Limited Editions: Lady Fern, Golden Club Moss,
• Simply Wool: Baby Spinach, Barn Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Shower

Country Cottage Needlearts Bayside Bungalows

Little House Needlework Little Women Virtue Series Gentle & Kind

• Country Cottage Needlearts - Bayside Bungalow
• Crescent Colours - All In A Heart, Miss Crescent's Crown/Love Birds
• Little House Needlework - Little Women Virtues; Gentle & Kind, Sea to Shining Sea; East Coast
• Magazines - Jill Oxton Issue 77
• Melissa Shirley Designs - Chocolate Candy Canes, Lollipops and Candy Corn (hand-painted canvases)
  

These have not been added to our on-line catalog yet (I'm way behind on that). 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 or Norden Crafts. Check our What's New Blog for the latest info.

Just Nan Over The Top Tins 2009

Don't forget to sign-ups in the new 2009 Limited Edition series. Snow is first of 4 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!

Spring Trunk Shows

Our trunkshow with Beth Gantz Designs, who does contemporary needlepoint design with bright, fun colors, has arrived. Most designs are 5x5 on 10 or 13 mesh (depending upon the design) and 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.

I've started working on the next round of thread photographs for the website, Rainbow Gallery! This is a huge task given the breadth of product they produce. So I'm slowly making my way through their threads. As I get them done and edited I'll add them to the on-line catalog. Do you wonder why we do the photos ourselves? In a lot of cases the thread vendors don't do photos or they're not a great quality. If the vendor has good photos and gives us permission to use them that's the first route. But for many they are not available - for example our taking for photos for the Au ver a Soie threads. While it's a big job it's well worth the effort in the long run - and we appreciate the nice comments we receive about them. If you're ever interested in knowing how we go about doing them, I'll write a little article in a future newsletter about that.

Next time I'll include another photo of my Sailor's Wife Sampler. The houses, church and surrounding ground is done. Now I'm working on the Sailor's wife herself.

Oh, and if you're working on BoINK or thinking about it, Tracy released the last section on Tuesday. And she posted photos of finishing pieces - wow. I really need to get re-started on mine.

Here's hoping you have a relaxed stitching week!

Happy Stitching,

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

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.

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.

Visit our Needle In A Haystack Google Calendar to check our hours and events.

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