Needle In A Haystack

10/24/2026

It's with a heavy heart I note the passing of my friend and colleague CA Wells, who left us gracefully in her sleep in late September. CA was one of the funniest people I've ever known and she made me laugh, whether we were together in person or virtually. She was full of life, loved travel (along with needlework) and always seemed to have boundless energy. And the stories she told about her travels always cracked me up - like taking old clothing on buying trips so she could throw them away to make room for the goodies and not have to do laundry when she got back!

We first met back the days of Spirit of Cross Stitch where she was teaching and we hit it off immediately. A friendship followed and even before I open the store, CA would come teach classes for me that I invited other interested stitchers to. Honestly, without CA's encouragement I don't know that I would have opened the shop as I was still working full time in high-tech. She introduced me to Jean Lea and Roz Vancil (both of whom became dear friends) who helped me navigate what owning a shop would be like.

CA taught for me at the shop for several years and I also attended her Living Legacy events, even doing boutiques for them. Her sense of design, style and color was unique and her way of turning those designs into 3 dimensional pieces was and still is amazing. I was thinking recently I needed to go back and actually put together some of her projects I've finished stitching, but not assembled.

I've included some photos of below of CA and her sister Chris (aka Kiki) at various Living Legacy events. If you have a photo you'd like to share, please post it in a comment.

Chris has asked me let people know that once they have had time go through CA's supplies there may be items available to stitchers who have been looking for CA's work. I'll handle the organizing of that with them after the family has had more time to deal with such a shock.

I know CA's up there, toasting to us and enjoying time with Sam & Bertha, the Crooked Clergyman while taking a ride in The Little Red Balloon! CA, you will be very missed by so many 😢

09/10/2026

In our shipment of books from Inspirations, we also received our order of Beautiful Butterflies. This is an amazing book with such lovely creatures to stitch!

Order link in the comments.

08/07/2026

Update September 10, 2026. We have received our shipment of Betsy's new book so have copies in stock.

Inspirations is releasing a new Betsy Morgan book in September and we have copies coming. The Four Seasons Casket has all the instructions for making your own casket and accessories that go in it. You can find a link to pre-order in the first comment.

07/24/2026

We know that many of you enjoy stitching with petite tapestry needles and this week we were able to find a stash of #28 John James Gold Petite Tapestry Needles. JJ discontinued making them a few years ago but one of our suppliers has some packages of the 1000/pk that we buy for bulk needles.

You can order them packs of either 10 or 25 in size #28. Check the comments for the order link.

07/17/2026

Our primary phone line is down at the moment so you will get a busy signal if you call. Please use our alternate phone number 510-522-0304 to reach us.

Send a message to learn more

06/26/2026

For those of you who are fans of Jackie du Plessis of It's Fineally Finished, Jackie has a project in two upcoming Inspirations publications. Issue #131 features Case Study (photo on the cover). The Handpicked Collection #7 features Attic of Dreams, a scissor and needle case.

Both publications will arrive in July at the shop and you can pre-order them now (see the first comment).

05/18/2026

Elisabetta Sforza has a wonderful new embroidery book just released, Bouquet Letters.

We expect copies from Italy around May 25th. Order information in the comments.

03/18/2026

Rainbow Gallery, who since 2024 has been producing Kreinik threads, is phasing out putting the threads on spools and will only be putting them on cards. We have a large number of colors/sizes on backorder and have been informed that those will come on cards when available, vs. spools. It is however, still taking months to get most colors/sizes so plan well ahead of your project, or consider Au ver a Soie metallic threads if a color is available in that line.

AVAS has been making metallic threads since before Kreinik existed so they have an extensive history of making metallized threads. If you look on our AVAS Metallic order page we list substitutes for colors where they are known. Assuming you have not stitched with a specific color/size ordering an AVAS color will come much faster. And the thread is smoother and less springy.

Purveyor of fine needlework supplies. Providing quality products and service to the discriminating needleworker.

03/16/2026

For those of you who love stitching with Gumnuts threads, we have been informed that the dyer in Australia is retiring and the company closing. We are sad to see her threads become unavailable but wish her the best in retirement.

We carry the Stars line of Gumnuts so if you need anything from that silk line, order ASAP and if we are low on inventory we'll see if we can get more from our US distributor. We do know they are out of colors 408 and 990 in Stars, although we still have a few left.

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12/15/2025

Update 12/16: We have filled our pre-order list for Queen of Freedom and Lady of the Flag. If you want to be on the waiting list in case anyone cancels, send us an e-mail.

We are taking orders for the metallics that are needed for both designs. Lady of the Flag uses Kreinik #4 002HL (2) & 025; we can sub those with AVAS Metallic #4 030 (2) & 015. Queen of Freedom uses Kreinik #4 002J (2) and 102C. We have them on order but as with all things Kreinik, it takes time. So those threads are unlikely to be available at the same time as the chart - but will come later. Contact us if your shop isn't ordering the metallics.

Two of the hugely popular 4th of July charts from Mirabilia are being reprinted as limited edition charts. We were able to pre-order 25 of each design and they will ship to us January 2026. You can find each of them along with the fabric options, embellishment pack in our online catalog. When ordering the chart we've given you the option of including the metallic threads each one needs.

https://needlestack.americommerce.com/Chart/M-LadyOfTheFlag.aspx
https://needlestack.americommerce.com/Chart/M-QueenOfFreedom.aspx

We don't charge for orders until we ship them, and we do recommend you order ASAP to ensure you get a copy. Wichelt, who is doing the reprint for Mirabilia, has limited all shops to 25 of each design and we know it's likely to sell out fast for all of us.