What's New @ Needle In A Haystack

New Colors of Thread Gatherer Have Arrived!

Thread Gatherer has released 5 new overdyed Silk 'n Colors, 4 solid Silk 'n Colors and 2 new Silk Ribbons in 4mm. The 4 new solid colors introduce a new blue range to her line. We have photos of all but the new solid colors in the online catalog and all are available for purchase now.

Type	Color
Silk 'n Colors	264 Momma's Lullaby
Silk 'n Colors	265 Pomegranate Slushi
Silk 'n Colors	266 November Morning
Silk 'n Colors	267 Cobblestone Lane
Silk 'n Colors	268 Washed-Out Grape
Silk 'n Colors	1063 Union Blue
Silk 'n Colors	1064 Thundercloud
Silk 'n Colors	1065 Independence Rain
Silk 'n Colors	1066 Civil War Tears
Silk Ribbon 4mm	264 Momma's Lullaby
Silk Ribbon 4mm	265 Pomegranate Slushy

New Items Added to our On-line Catalog

It always takes a while for us to add new items to the online catalog but we have finally added the rest of Giulia Punti Antichi's beads and thimbles as well as the new Victoria Sampler designs released last month, which were S is for Stitcher and Where Stitchers Gather. Both have accessory packs available for them, and are listed in the online catalog as well.

Taking Sign-ups for Blackbird Designs 2008 Loose Feathers Club

We are taking sign-ups now for the new 2008 Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers Club. There will be 6 designs released during the year (one every 2 months) and you can sign up for just the booklet for each design or you can include fabric and/or thread as well. The designs are done with hand-dyed cotton floss and we'll also be matching those colors to silk so you can stitch the designs in either cotton or floss. We will be substituting the new Weeks Dye Works hand-dyed linen, which is also a 30 count linen and comes in some wonderful colors that will work great for these designs. You can sign-up by calling the shop or by using our convenient Loose Feathers Sign-Up Page - where you can specify what you want with your booklet.

New Colors of Soy Luster Have Arrived!

We get all the new colors of Soy Luster as Linda at Dream House Ventures/The Pure Pallette releases them. The new March 2008 colors are:

Shade, Old Denim, Pretty In Pink, Sweeter Than Wine, Merlot, Foam, Metolius River, River Wild, Summer Sky, Wet, Feather, Phosphor, Acid Green, Limeade, Putting Green, Shade Tree, Sage, Desert Floor, Hot Chocolate, Straw, Ashes of Roses, Antique Velvet, Cabbage Rose, Desire, Claret and Brick. Several are colors to fill in existing families but some are new families as well. We don't yet have photos of the new colors but they have been added to our online catalog for ordering.

Just Nan Order Has Arrived

We received our first shipment of 12 of Barnabee's Bride kits today. We have 5 left from this shipment and we'll be getting another shipment in June of 18 kits. If we run out of our current batch we'll put you on the list for June. We also received the new When Barnabee met Bella Biscornu chart. Both can be ordered through our online catalog.

Gilt Sylke Twist Has Been Released

We received a few spools of the new Gilt Sylke Twist in our Access Commodities order recently and they've flown out the door. There are 8 colors in this new thread, we received 4 of them initially. Supplies will be limited for the time being as this thread is made by a small firm in England for Access Commodities, not by a large manufacturing company. We will be sent more spools of the colors as they are available but we expect it to be limited quantities for the next couple of months. I have added it to our online catalog so you can pre-order what you want and we'll send them as we get them. Given Access has been trying to get them to make this thread for more than a dozen years, I'm just happy they've finally made it and we can even get any of it!

I spoke today with Natalie, a stitching acquaintance of mine, who has been using this thread to experiment with for Access. She said she'd been able to stitch with 30 and 34 count Legacy Linen as well as Congress Cloth and 18 Mesh canvas. The stiffer the fabric the easier it is to work with and a hoop, Q-Snap or stretcher bars would be helpful. Natalie has done chain stitch, Smyrna cross, cross-stitch, satin stitch, eyelets and even French knots with it (using 2 hands). It's a flexible and quite durable thread to work with. Depending on the fabric you can use a #24 Tapestry or #24 Chenille, although Natalie reported that the Japanese #10 needles Access distributes works great because of the unusual shape of the eye, which opens the fabric much more than a tapestry or chenille does. You want to use a waste knot and run the thread under 3-4 stitches then back again under 1 or 2 to lock it. You can use the loop method to start but you will have a slight bump there. She also recommended using a separate cutting tool for this thread. It is a 1/2% gold on a silver plated copper core so use something dedicated to this and not your good scissors. You could use serrated scissors, beading snips or even nail clippers (which is what Natalie uses). I appreciated Natalie sharing her stitching experience with this thread with me. I'm hoping to have some time to work with it myself soon.

This is one of the threads being used on the Plimoth Plantation's jacket project and you can follow their stitching progress on The Embroiderer's Story blog.

The Cat's Whiskers Added To Online Catalog

We have added our selection of designs from The Cat's Whiskers to the online catalog. New from Nashville is the Garden Chair (pictured left) and Queen's Chest (pictured right). We also have thread packs available for each of these designs and they are in the online catalog as well (the links will bring them up in addition to the chart). These are both amazing pieces!

Project Pages Added for Hannah Horsfall & Shores

We've added project pages for the new releases of Hannah Horsfall and Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. The pages include what you need for the chart, fabric and threads.  We also have project pages for several other popular designs and you can find those as well as our searchable designer catalog here.

Giulia Punti Antichi Designs - New Releases

One of the many great things to happen at the Nashville show was the opportunity to meet Giulia Punti Antichi from Italy. We've been carrying Giulia's designs for a number of years and it was treat to meet her in person and get to visit with her. She brought with lots of new goodies, which we brought home with us!

A new series of needlework smalls were inspired by the local artisans who make Maiolica beads. Giulia has designed two Biscornu, a pincushion and a scissors fob. Each has a hand-made bead to go with the design. These are named simply - D1, D2, D3 & D4 and you'll find them in our online catalog.

Giulia designed two different caskets for the 2007 Designing Ladies series and we have both along with the hand-made Italian pins and waxer. Night Before Christmas is a lovely casket in red and has a set of Christmas pins along with a Green pine waxer. You'll find them in our online catalog. The Mary Queen of Scots Casket has a set of Thistle pins and waxer available and are orderable via the online catalog as well.

Released a couple of years ago, Giulia has updated her My Tuscany Shaker Box to fix the divided Shaker carriers available from Orleans Carpentry. We also have picked up the Sunflower and Grape pins made for the design. The chart and the pins are available via the online catalog or in the store. We also picked up her new Adam & Eve Etui!

We carry many of Giulia's designs and you'll find them all in our online catalog. If you have visited her website and seen something we don't have, just let us know and we can order it.

Just Another Button Company - 2008 Teapot Series

As part of their Stitch Every Day series started in 2005, JABC is releasing a new button pack with a free chart every month and the 2008 theme is teapots! We have added them to our online catalog along with a photo. You can stitch them on any fabric you choose and they make great quick gifts. We are on auto with JABC for the new button packs so we'll add them as they come in - or let us know if you'd like to sign up for an auto for them. Enjoy!