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Events & Reminders




Hours

Tue-Fri 11am - 5pm

Sat 11am - 4pm

First Sun 12 - 4pm

Sun/Mon - Closed

Next Open Sundays

July 1

Aug 5


Closed July 4th

Greetings,


Sorry for not doing a newsletter sooner but it seems time gets away from me on the days I have dedicated time to it. Kind of like how I keep trying to re-organize my sewing/craft/office at home and get distracted by other things (like actually crafting).

We moved our offices into the new space next door to us in March and wow, what a difference it has made. Not only do we have more room for ourselves and shipping/receiving, but we now have a bit of room to keep a little back stock of some items. And it meant we could re-arrange the store space to make it more comfortable. I've likened it to having to wear a corset for a long time and now you don't. Very freeing. I posted a video to our YouTube channel so you can take a video tour of the space.

BTW, if you are here in the Bay Area, this is our Open Sunday for July and Cymone and I will be here 12-4pm. We will be closed on Wednesday for the holiday but will be open our regular hours otherwise.


News & New Things


Daisy
                                                  Mouse on a RoolJust 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.

HATS MH1656MH1656 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.

HATS Queen of the
                                                MaySarah 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.

RolaFrameWe 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.

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Daylight HaloSpeaking 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.


Daylight Halo
                                                  folded up

Daylight Smart
                                                Travel LampI 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.

Craftlite
                                                DublinIf 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.

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DMC Floche
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
A Flower Alphabet(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.

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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.

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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

Jackie du Plessis August Classes
Fair MaidenFriday August 3
9:30am - 4:30pmThe
                                          Gift
$95

Finishing workshop for The Gift
and A Fair Maiden

MinikinSaturday August 4
9:30am - 4:30pm
$275

Minikin

 

You can find a video on this class on our YouTube.com/NeedleInAHaystack channel

Lily of the ValleySunday August 5
9:30am - 12:30pm
$215

Lily of the Valley

Beautify - Lap PouchSunday August 5
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$225

Beautiful Lap Pouch

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Parking at 2433 Mariner Square Loop


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).

Needle In A Haystack

2433 Mariner Square Loop, Suite 102
Alameda, CA 94501

510-522-0404 phone * 877-HAYSTAC Toll-Free

haystack@needlestack.com * www.needlestack.com


Hours: Tue - Fri 11am - 5pm; Sat 11am - 4pm, 1st Sunday Noon-4pm

CLOSED Sun-Mon