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Sat 11am - 4pm

First Sun 12 - 4pm

Sun/Mon - Closed

 

 

September 3

It's hard to believe it's already past mid-August. Where does the time go? I've been trying to type a bit less the last several weeks as my carpal tunnel has acted up again for the first time in more than 20 years. Babying my right hand/wrist has meant keeping typing time down, taking more breaks and not stitching as much. It's clearly long overdue for a newsletter, so I'll just remember to take breaks often (which a smart phone or Alexa is great for reminding me to do that).

 

 

 

Part 2 of Brenda's summer series - Summer Schoolhouse - Lessons in Abecedarian arrived today and features two cute little pin cushions that pair with the larger one in Part 1. I have started mine, although as usual I've made changes. I love to stitch over-one but I like to do it on 32 count so I can do tent stitch with silk. Since I liked the photo I skewed my colors toward those and changed the fabric to 32 count Floba, which is a cotton/rayon blend but looks more like a light natural linen.

 

In the online catalog I listed the cottons, my original silk choices which were closer to the cottons as well as my color selections. But you can always play with your own colors and create one suited to your tastes.

 

One last note on this one - the fabric is darker than in the photo (the joys of photographing stitching). The threads do work wonderfully with what Brenda selected so don't panic when you see the fabric. You'll find the series and supplies on the order page.

 

 

Lizzie*Kate has created a new 3 part Christmas Mystery series called Spirit of Christmas, which will ship to us in early September.  You can order Picture This Plus linen (28 or 32 count) or aida (14 or 16 count) as well as the Week's floss and a Stitch Dots Needle Nanny. We'll send all of the supplies with part 1 and then parts 2 & 3 will be just the charts. They will be sent in September, October and November. You'll find Spirit of Christmas in our online catalog.

 

 

The 3rd in the Just Nan Mouse in a House series will be shipping to us on Monday and we've ordered a lot more of them this time since Halloween is the theme and is always a popular design style. Miss Ghostly Pumpkin Mouse is stitched on 32 count Week's Pumpkin, which we actually had in the shop! We're doing 6x6 cuts for her (called a "mouse cut") and an 18x11 cut of the Belfast Raw. The reason for the oddball width on the Raw is that the last mill run from Zweigart came in at 66" wide (not 54" wide). So we decided to sell a smaller cut just for this design. You'll find both of these special cuts off the order page for the Haunted Autumn Mouse in a House as well as the listing for the DMC colors it needs.

 

You can also sign-up for an auto so that you'll get the 4th design, which will be a Christmas theme. We have only a couple of Summer left in stock and Spring is sold out. We do expect Halloween to sell out as well so don't delay too much in placing your order.

 

 

We did receive The Primitive Hare fabric and chart order in August. Isabella was quite ill for much of July and we are happy to know that she's doing well now. The 4 new charts we received are Bee Happy, In God We Trust, Telling the Bees and The Siren. We bought quite a lot of the new Prim Bee linen, which is quite fun (I personally love anything with bees or sheep). You'll find more photos and details on the blog and in the online catalog.

 

 

 

The Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue will be released in September if you wish to pre-order a copy. The Halloween issue has been here for a few weeks.

 

 

We have received more colors of Au Ver a Soie metallic braid #8 (6 colors). We are planning to do an AVAS Metallics club starting the end of 2017 that will feature a collection of 5-6 colors of their braids each month for 6-9 months. We are still working out the details and will post that information when we have it sorted. AVAS has been making metallic braids for an exceedingly long time although they have not been known much at all in the US. What we can currently obtain is listed in the online catalog. Be sure read Mary Corbett's Needle 'n Thread blog for her review of these threads and for great embroidery information.

 

 

American Dream Products, makers of EZ Stitch scroll frames will be closing for good on August 25th. We have gotten the last of the bars and rods we could and are waiting on one last order of the NoBaste2 hook & loop tape (the fabric part). We are exceedingly sad to see them close and wish them the best in their retirement. You'll find the EZ Stitch Scroll Frame components in our online catalog on the Scroll & Slate Frames page. Once we sell out of an item we won't be able to get more :-(

 

 

Jackie du Plessis was here 2 weekends ago and we had a blast with her for 3 lovely projects. I'm always amazed at what she comes up with and the detailed finishing that goes through her head. She'll be back again in March and we're working on what she'll teach that time, although we haven't nailed it all down yet. Jackie will also return in August 2018 as well as twice in 2019. We enjoy hosting her and love her visits - along with the students who attend.

 

For this newsletter's local "color" - once a month during the summer the Oakland A's have fireworks night after the Saturday night game. They play about 2 miles from my house so we drove over to the park on our side of the estuary and had a lovely 15 minutes of fireworks.

 

 

 

In 3 weeks I'm off to a cash 'n carry needlepoint market called Destination Dallas. It's a fun way to shop for needlepoint canvases, accessories and even some threads. I always come home with a suitcase full of goodies and it's also fun to catch up with my colleagues.

 

My July trip was my annual weekend with my Needlework Mafia buddies (Roz & Jeannine from Acorns & Threads, Deb from Stitchville and Jean from The Attic). We've been doing this for more than 12 years now and the weekend is full of fun, food and stitching. As always, our host Roz outdid herself, and we got to take a food truck tour as Portland has such fabulous food trucks. And an amazing brunch prepared for us by a friend of Roz's. We capped it off with a visit to EE Schenk, the quilting distributor in Portland (where I get many of my embroidery supplies from). I got to come home with a suitcase full of shop goodies from there. The joy and love these 4 ladies bring to my life is always a blessing and getting to be with them for a full weekend is such a great treat for me.

 

   

 

I hope you find time to stitch, on your own or with friends. I'm trying to do about 30 minutes a night between icing my wrist after a day of typing (the joys of paperwork for a modern business).

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

Jeannette Douglas will be here September 22-24 to teach the companion to Common Thread II which she taught for us in 2010. She has create a lovely San Francisco version for us with the TransAmerica building, painted ladies, poppies and a cute little crab. We are also planning to host a Friday night event with Jeannette and we'll details on that shortly. Common Thread II is all day Saturday & Sunday, September 23 & 24th. Jeannette does allow us to send kits to those who can't attend in person.

 

Kathy Rees will be here October 14 & 15th teaching Harmony, the second in a class series (Serenity was first which she taught for us in 2015). Even if you've not done counted canvas work before, Kathy will guide you through all of the stitches in the project. You'll find alternative colorways on the sign up page for the class so you can let us know which color palette to kit for you. This is a 2-day class and does require your physical attendance (we cannot send kits away).

 

You can sign-up for any of the classes now. You find more detail through our Classes page or you can contact the shop.

 

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We have two parking lots for the office complex. One is off Mariner Square Drive on the courtyard side of the building. The other is behind building #2417, which is next to us. There is no dedicated handicapped parking in either lot and the best place to park for a really flat surface is in the back lot and come in the Mariner Square Loop door. Yes, we are at the corner of Mariner Square Loop, Marina Village Parkway and Mariner Square Drive (go figure!). We keep both doors unlocked during store hours. There is no metered parking here to worry about - it's the two lots and plenty of street parking on Mariner Square Drive. Our complex sits directly on top of the Webster Tube so if you have trouble with your GPS finding us we're 1 block from the Target store (and not in the shopping center).