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News &
New Things
 Just Nan
has come out with
a new series of mouse
designs called Mouse on a
Roll. The roll creates a
place for you to put your
scissors with the mouse
keeping them company.The first
in the series (the rest
will follow in 2019) is
Daisy Mouse, and she's a
Summer Mouse. Daisy
Mouse on a Roll is
available by ordering
online or contacting
the shop. We have picked
fabrics for it that are
different than what is
called for, but we liked
the color choices a bit
more.
We have 2
new samplers from Hands
Across The Sea
- MH1656 My Beloved's
Gift and Sarah
Braizear 1829 - Queen of
the May.
 MH1656 is
the newest and we also
have the Soie 100/3
threads for it. Nicola
didn't specify a fabric
color for it but gave DMC
colors the original fabric
was close to. The options
we think work for it in 40
count are Woodland Brown
(which is more like the
photo), and Summer Khaki.
Due to the extreme length
hand-dyed fabrics would
all have to be custom
cuts, which means we
wouldn't see fabric for
several weeks at best. So
we're sticking with
regular fabrics for now.
You'll find details on the
fabric options, threads
and the chart in the online
catalog.
 Sarah is a
limited edition sampler
for 2018 and we have
copies available. It calls
for Zweigart Summer Khaki,
but we have also picked
Light Mocha, as it is
closer to the photograph.
As with all fabrics,
dyelots change, even for
those not hand-dyed so the
current version of Summer
Khaki is a very
green/brown. We liked the
Light Mocha better and
have plenty of it in
stock. You'll find the
chart, fabrics and threads
on Queen of
the May in the online
catalog. If you wish
to do it in silk and not
purchase them all at once,
we have broken it up into
sections so you can
purchase as you go.
 We have
received one order from
RolaFrame and are expecting
another one sometime in
July. This scroll frame
system is different in that
the rods use small brads to
hold your fabric in place
and they connect to the bars
via a grooved section. The
photo is a picture of one of
Debi's projects mounted into
their scroll frame and she
really likes how tight she
can get it. There are more
photos and ordering
information on the Scroll
Frame page.
We are
expecting a lap/table stand
and a floor stand in our
next shipment as well. Once
we get the stands I'll do a
video review on our YouTube
channel.
 Speaking
of our YouTube
channel, I did a
review a few weeks ago
of the Daylight Halo
lamp/magnifier used with
a small power pack.
Since many classes and
seminars are now
requiring students to
bring lamps that are not
plugged in I wanted to
find a solution to
having power for a lamp
that doesn't have it's
own battery. My
preferred travel
lamp/magnifier is the
Daylight Halo, which is
an LED lamp with a
pretty bright light and
it folds flat for
traveling.
 I
purchased 2 different
power packs from Amazon
and the one I like the
best after testing 2 of
them is a 100W RavPower,
which can power the Halo
for around 15 hours. If
you are interested in
the lamp and power packs
you'll find the lamp in
our online
catalog with a
link to our Amazon via
our Affiliate link (we
get a very small
commission). You'll find
the lamp/RavPower review
on our YouTube
channel
where I showed it with
the 65W RavPower.
We have also purchased a
bunch of the new Daylight
SmartTravel Lamp, which
has it's own internal
battery you recharge via a
USB cable. It's not as
bright as a Halo, but it
gives you some extra light
and can last for about
8-10 hours once fully
charged. You'll find it on
our main Lamps
& Magnifiers page.
 If you are
looking for a Craftlite
Dublin or Brighton
we do have some in stock
of those. We have also
picked up extra battery
clip-ons for the Dublin
in case you have lost
yours. For that lamp we
recommend buying
re-chargeable batteries
and 3 sets. 1 in the
charger, 1 in the lamp and
1 charged. If you cycle
through the 3 sets you can
get through a full class
day. The Brighton has it's
own internal battery but
it only lasts about 2 to
2.5 hours before needing
to be plugged in. So we
like the Dublin better for
class use if you want a
larger lamp.
In May we got a flurry of
inquiries about DMC
discontinuing production
of Floche. The
full story is that while DMC
is not making it for
general purchase, it does
still make it for Fleur
de Paris, our
distributor in Los
Angeles. So we are still
able to get it and these
days order it every 10-14
days as it seems to fly
out the door. If you have
a shop or designer who was
concerned about this, have
them contact Fleur
de Paris in LA.
We ship it all over the
world  (and we
sell it both in the hanks
as as well a quarter
hanks) so if you are not
able to source it locally,
we can ship it to you.
You'll find it in the online
catalog.
Elisabetta
Sforza's monogram
book, A Flower
Alphabet, has been
so popular we're on our
4th shipment from
Elisabetta in Italy. We
have plenty of them in
stock and you can order
through the online or
by calling us at the shop.
Jackie
du Plessis will be at
the shop again in a
month. Friday we are
doing an all-day
workshop for putting
together The Gift and A
Fair Maiden Workbag. You
can contact Jackie for
the kits and come to
class to work on putting
them together. Saturday
is Minikin, an amazing
Reticule and we've got a
video she and I did on
previewing the project.
Sunday morning is an
older project, Lily of
the Valley and Sunday
afternoon is a brand new
piece called Beautiful.
It's a lap pouch for
your stitching projects
and Jackie's not even
quite done designing it
yet. So the photo we
have is the only snippet
I've seen so far. We all
love her surprises!
There are links below to
her class pages for more
details and a way to
sign-up.
In May I
attended the Portland
Quilt Market with my good
friend and shop owner
buddy, Jeannine from
Acorns and Threads. We go
to this every 3 years when
it is in Portland and we
always find some goodies
we don't see elsewhere.
There were a number of
embroidery vendors at the
show so I brought back a
few new designs for the
shop. I got to spend some
time talking to the VP of
Sales from Daylight about
my RavPower experiments
and they seem to be
looking at the problem of
using lamps in a class
environment without plugs
as well. I'll be
interested to see where
that goes. And I
discovered I have a Tulip
distributor in my own
town! So I'm able to get
most Tulip needles and
goodies locally, which is
great. They also have some
other great products from
Japan including some
hand-made needles we're
looking at. So there will
be more new products and
perhaps some reviews in
the near future.
If you celebrate the 4th
of July I hope you have a
fabulous day with family
and friends. If it's not a
foggy night we'll see what
fireworks we can find
nearby - or on TV!
Happy
Stitching,
Cathe
...and
Jennifer, Debi, Cymone,
Marissa
cathe@needlestack.com
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Friday
August 3
Saturday
August 4
Sunday August
5
Sunday August
5
