July, 2024 Newsletter

THANK YOU
First and foremost a huge thank you for making June so much fun! Our first Stitch Night was memorable and truly look forward to the next. Getting to know you on a personal level is just amazing. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work and your beautiful selves. I’m the worst when it comes to remembering to take pictures and promise to do better! 😀

STITCH NIGHT
Next one is Sunday, July 14 from 4:30-8pm. Shop is open. Hearts are open. Friendships are waiting. Registration required to ensure enough space for all. Seats are filling so give me a call, email or stop by to get your name on the list. Am also interested to hear what days/nights/times work for you if this doesn’t. Am totally open to trying different things as we forge ahead. 

Let’s go! The Big 3 Sale is now through July 31st! All in stock Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas charts are now on sale! Time to pad your stash and get a head start on your holiday stitching. Or, if you’re like me, its holiday stitching all year!

2024 Big 3 Sale – Threaded Needle

TRUNK SHOWS
Both our trunk shows for our Grand Opening, My Sister’s Samplers and Frony Ritter Designs, were so well received. These designers do incredible work and we’re thrilled that their art was appreciated by you all.

Our next trunk show has shipped and should arrive within the week. We’re so honored to feature Finally a Farmgirl designs. 

We’re also beyond pleased to feature Joseph’s Woodwork. Timing on this is a bit tricky as he is assembling stuff just for us so is hesitant to commit on a time. It will be a surprise when it gets here and I promise you’ll love it! We have some of his kits in stock now and his woodwork is just divine!

SUMMER HOURS
Effective July 15, we’re modifying our hours just a tad to reflect the summer season —

SUNDAY: CLOSED
MONDAY: CLOSED
Tuesday: 1-6
Wednesday: 1-6
Thursday: 11-7
Friday: 1-5
Saturday: 1-5

AUTOMATICS
Have had a few requests for automatics. My response to that is, why of course! If there is a designer that you collect or must have and want everything they come out with, just let me know. Will add you to the list and will keep you posted as their new work arrives. Not sure which designers we carry? Here’s the link to all our designers. That changes on a regular basis. And if there’s someone that you don’t see, just let me know. Absolutely love custom requests. It’s one of the ways we grow and find new designs to stitch — Products – Threaded Needle

NEW IDEAS
Two questions for you —

Would you be interested in coming together to watch a movie and stitch? LIke Hamilton, or Disney or The Greatest Showman? Or TV shows like Outlander, NCIS, etc.? Let me know if that sparks your interest. 

How about a book club? Read the book, then come together to talk about it and stitch the night away? 

IN CLOSING
New charts, fabrics, threads, etc. are ordered every week. If there’s something you’re looking for and don’t see it, let me know and we’ll do our best to get it. Some distributors and designers ship wicked fast and others are a bit on the slow side. We’ll manage that for you and let you know when they arrive.

Right now, Mill Hill products are only carried by one distributor. And they ship anywhere from 4-6 weeks. My latest order is over 7 weeks out. What does Mill Hill include besides beads and their fabulous kits? Perforated paper. The black perforated paper has been on backorder for forever. My latest order from Wichelt has finally shipped, 7 weeks later, and the black perforated paper didn’t make the cut. We will keep trying to get it in, but it will be a while unfortunately. 

36 ct. Agave Edinburgh is a fabric that has been backordered by all three distributors for months now. Every week I order it and every week it is backordered by each. We will keep trying, but just keeping you in the loop.

Gosh, so much to talk about in this newsletter! Hope you have a glorious July and enjoy your summer. Come visit! There’s nothing like a visit from stitching friends.

We’re Open on the 4th

Open on the 4th cuz hubby must work so why not?! Will close early though, so closing at 5 vs. 7.

Hours: 11am-5pm.

BONUS: All in-stock patriotic charts on sale tomorrow through Sunday (4th – 7th). So many to choose from! 

See you soon!

Thanksgiving Menu

Turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, etc., etc. etc. For years we have served the same food and for years there’s so much leftover.

Send it home with the girls. We do.

But still so much leftover. Freeze some.

Oh you all know the routine I’m sure!

So last year I decided to take inspiration from the first settlers whom we celebrate with this special meal each year. Our visit to Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts got me thinking. Let’s have a meal that’s truly reflective of those first colonists and the inhabitants of this land, the Wampanoag Peole, who were already here. If you’re interested, the book that has me so inspired is here —

At the risk of violating copyright, I won’t post recipes here, but history can be so exciting and inspirational. We are actually looking forward to our food prep this year. In light of this, my “big piece” for 2022 is also along these lines of a historical Thanksgiving.

During decision time, there were several that made the “maybe” pile, but this one, Thanksgiving 1621 Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives, was the winner. The more I stitch on it, the more I love it!

This piece uses all DMC and would be perfect on any count of fabric. Am in stitching frenzy mode to see if I can get it finished and framed in time to hang on the wall for this year. That may be an overreach and I may settle for just finishing it in time. 😀 This is a pic of the completed piece from the chart itself —

Below is buying information for the supplies for this stunning piece. If you’re stitching for Thanksgiving, hope your projects get done in time and that the spirit of this special time, unique to Americans, brings you and your family tremendous memories to reflect on for years to come. ~Alice

Shopping
Thanksgiving 1621 Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives
Fabric & threads for this design
Other designs by Twin Peak Primitives

How to Shop at Threaded Needle

Every site is different, but the same. Every shop strives to find their niche in the hopes that you, the valuable consumer, will find something worth returning to. We hope the same here!

How to browse? Several different ways –Click on the Products option in the teal tab at the top of the home page. From there you can choose subcategories for Accessories, Designs, Fabric, Frames. As we expand, more will be listed.

  • If you choose “Designs”, you’ll find a sortable listing of the designs we carry.
  • Click on the image of the design that interests you to see more information about that chart. You’ll find stitch count, design size and the designer’s choice of fabric and threads.
  • To order the chart, click on the “Add to Cart” button beside the image —
  • To order the fabric and/or threads for a specific design, click on the link in the description like below —
  • The hyperlink will open the full list in one place of everything needed to stitch that design. Some of the designs have a StitchPak which will place everything into your cart with one click.

Every chart has a collection of hyperlinks to find other designs with similar themes as well as the full collection by a particular designer. Click on any of them to see even more needlework to tempt you!

Need help finding something? Drop us a line at alice@threadedneedle.org. We’re more than willing to help you find what you’re looking for.

Hope this helps. Thank you for walking through our doors. Look around. Pull up a chair, turn on a light and stitch a spell. So happy to get to know you! ~Alice

Framing My Inspiration

Flea markets and yard sales are a huge draw for me. What do I look for? Frames are my favorite to seek out. Not just any frames, but antique frames or those that are in good enough shape to be reused. I could spend a fortune on new frames, but as time goes by, gently used, deeply loved and story-filled frames are a bigger draw.

Stores geared towards those who create also have good finds if one looks. And thus, here we are. Here’s the story on my latest project.

When I first saw this design, my love of all things lighthouses, the beach and the ocean drew me in. My immediate thought was … MUST have this for the website as my customers will love this.

My immediate second thought was … this would be fabulous stitched over 1. So I filed that thought knowing I would revisit at some point.

This happened! Beautiful right?!

Design area is 2.5″ x 3″. And now I’m on a mission! Most times we choose a design to stitch because of a special someone, occasion, memory, etc. For me, it’s another thing to choose a design to fit the frame.

Remember The Lighthouse pictured above? I did! 😀 Next step is what fabric can I stitch this on where it will fit? And then, do I have it in my stash?!

The model calls for white Aida. I didn’t have any or white of any kind that would make this design fit. But I did have a small piece of 32 ct. lt. blue Lugana. Stiching this design over 1 on this fabric for this frame is a perfect fit!

Have been stitching on this a little less than a week now, and this is where I am so far.

While the fabric looks a bit grayish, it’s actually light blue. Because of that had to make a small change. The model is stitched on white, there are areas that are left unstitched. The clouds, the seagull and parts of the lighthouse couldn’t be lt. blue so will use DMC 3865 and will fill in where needed.

Am truly loving stitching this little gem. It’s so much fun and quite relaxing.

Everything you might need to stitch this one yourself is available here at Threaded Needle. Would love to see your finished work. Enjoy

Get the Materials —
The Lighthouse
Mini Cream Frame (limited supply)
Tapestry #28 needles

It’s Happening!

I’ve dreamed about this happening for over a year now! And here we are.

I’ve learned so very much in building this place that I hope you will like and visit often.

Today is our soft launch. We’re live! You can see us!

We are still under construction and hope you’ll be patient. But even better, we hope you’ll let us know if you find a broken link, misspelling, anything… we are looking and testing as well.

A dream. And now you all are part of that dream. There’s a beautiful design by The Blue Flower that seems to capture the beauty of a dream. To stitch about your own dream, the image is clickable and will take you directly to our shop for ordering —

Dream by The Blue Flower

It seems like I can always find something to stitch that captures what I’m thinking or feeling. This one is so beautiful. Ideal for any count of fabric, linen, evenweave or aida, and is stitched with Classic Colorworks and Weeks Dye Works threads with DMC floss.

Thank you for visiting. Thank you for sharing any glitches you find. Thank you for helping spread the word. Thank you for offering suggestions on how we can be better. Thank you for being a part of our dream-to-reality experience. ~Alice

Quilted Memories

Came across a chart tonight that brought so many memories flooding back. So many that I truly wanted to share them with you.

My youngest’s boyfriend at the time was deployed to Afghanistan. Such a hard, scary time. To help her focus on something other than his absence here and his ever-present danger there, I was able to convince her to take on this piece. Stitching was something we could do together and this is such a fabulous piece to stitch for someone in the military. Her plan was to complete this over a year’s time to give to him upon his return.

In the designer’s own words —

“I have always loved quilts and the fact that each quilt square has a name. I created a design with the state quit blocks arranged in the order the states were admitted into the union of the United States. The first thirteen states are in the blue section of the flag. The other states are in the stripes section. Although this is a large piece of stitching, I do no think you will get bored! Each quilt square presents it’s own challenge and fun while being stitched. Enjoy!” ~Karen Kluba

Once a piece is completed and gifted it takes on its own life. Many times we never know whether it still lives or has made it to a garage sale or attic somewhere. Regardless, this beautiful design, with its deep symbolism provided my daughter many comforting hours as she waiting for her soldier to return home.

It is my hope that if you choose to stitch this one, it brings you great peace knowing the historical influence over its creation. ~Alice

New to the Neighborhood

As spring moves quickly towards summer I find myself spending every moment working on this website. While I haven’t met any of you that I know of, I think of you often.

What will you like? What will you skip over? Are you a experienced? Beginner? Casual stitcher? Or a lover of creating with your hands?

Will you stop by and decide this is a worthy community? How do I make it so? I have no delusions that I can build a site to please everyone all the time, but I do hope to build a home where everyone feels comfortable and chooses visit time and time again.

Because my focus is so much on this site, there’s precious little time to stitch. Once I get home from work I jump right into building this site.

I’m seeing so many designs and designers that I would love to stitch and share with you. As I look at at each to decide who makes the cut on this launch, I think about my own stitching style. I love to stitch on smaller counts of fabric and over 1 has long drawn me in. As my eyes age, 40 ct. linen just isn’t in the cards anymore, nor is 36 ct. I can manage 32ct. with a magnifier. It has become my stitching buddy. Because I favor taking any design and doing it over 1, the magnifier helps me keep my counting on point.

All of the above, leads my right back to you. New friends I haven’t met yet. I feel a bit like I’m moving into a new neighborhood. When we first meet, I so hope you find this new home clean, fun, intriguing, worthy-of-conversation. I hope that you will want to contribute. Ask questions. Share pictures of your own needlework.

There are so many threads, designs, accessories, etc. that are out there for us to lose ourselves in. I know from my previous experience as a shop owner that there is no way I can carry it all, no matter how much I want to. I will happily share my primary distributors with you so that you can browse their sites. If you see something that interests you, let me know. Am happy to entertain custom orders. If there are designs by specific designers that you’re looking for and we feature that designer, let us know. Very happy to see if we can get that for you.

These are my random thoughts as I take a quick break to eat lunch. I’ll soon return to adding product in for you to browse through. Thanks for listening! I cannot wait to meet you. ~Alice

Bless This House

Today is a stay-in-my-jammies kind of day. Had my second COVID vaccine yesterday. Everything I had heard previously, along with recommendations from my employer, said to hunker down for a day. It will pass.

After the first shot, my arm was a little tender, but no big deal. The headache that went along with it wasn’t pleasant. Not enough to stop my day or to stay home from work. Twenty five hours later it was gone.

Today the arm tenderness is a bit more irritating. And the headache is back along with the chills. Not restrictive enough to make me curl up and retreat, but irritating enough that I’m glad I heeded the friendly advice and scheduled a vacation day. I’ll deal with these discomforts if it keeps me out of the ICU. That’s the end game afterall.

My current project is Bless This House by La-D-Da —

Bless This House by La-D-Da

When choosing this one, I had a specific size and frame in mind. Such a different selection process than stitching a piece and then framing. I needed something to fit a horizontal 5″x7″. I had a welcome-ish idea in mind. Am a big fan of stitching over one as I love the concentration of color and imagery that happens when stitched over one.

The model for this one is stitched on 40 ct. over 2 with a completed size of 8 1/2″ x 3 1/2″, too big! And so I started playing with stitch counts to see if I could get a workable size over one.

Stitch count is 170 x 71. End result was 25 ct. over 1 gives me a finished size of 2.8″ x 6.8″. Will fill the space horizontally with margins on the top and bottom. The frame is part of a tri-fold screen with seven frames of varying sizes per panel. This project has been a work-in-process for years. Am slowly filling all 21 frames with needlework, but those stories are for another day.

I did decide to go with the 25 ct. Lugana over one. This is so easy to stitch on and things are moving along quickly. The model also calls for Sampler Threads, but because I’m stitching over one, I went with DMC.

Stitch Packs are available using a 40 ct. linen and Sampler Threads as well as the 25 ct. Lugana and DMC. If different mixes are preferred, they are available through the online store. Love to Stitch; Stitch with Love

Easter 2020 in 2021

My grandson LOVES Easter eggs. This post is dedicated to this precious boy as it is because of him that I made the stitching choice that I did.

In deciding what to stitch in January of last year, I wanted to leave Christmas alone mostly because I love stitching Christmas-y stuff. A close second is Halloween. So Easter or Thanksgiving were strong contenders. I love my grandson so much so I went looking and this one screamed “pick me”!

Easter Egg Time by The Calico Confectionery

How perfect! Stitching with Will’s sweet face in my heart I completed this design in early March. Remember what was happening in early March of 2020? Was very excited to get this done and wanted to rush it off for framing. World events aka COVID-19 got in the way. We also spent Easter apart as did millions of Americans. Never in a million years did I think it would actually be a year later before I could get this framed!

And yes! The finished and framed piece made its debut for Easter 2021, a whole year later!

Was so very excited to hang it on the wall for this year’s celebration. I don’t even think I’ve put it away yet over a week later. 😀

The charted model was stitched on 16 ct. White Chocolate Aida using DMC floss. I used 28 ct. Antique White Cashel Linen and DMC floss. Our Stitch Pack will be available using both fabrics, just specify at order which you’d prefer.

Would love to see what Easter pieces you’ve done or are working on.