Thursday, May 28, 2015

Columbus Show Gossip (May 2015)

The upcoming TNNA trade show in Columbus, Ohio has some really interesting things going on. First of all, fans of Mary Engelbreit designs will be thrilled to hear Painted Pony has licensed some of her art for painted canvases.  Mary Engelbreit needlepoint designs will be available again starting Fall 2015.

Secondly, Amazon.com has signed up to attend the show as a retailer.  This means like your local shop, they'll be browsing the designer booths and trying to arrange orders.    The brick and mortar stores are worried about this new online competitor although I personally think that ordering hand painted canvases from Amazon instead of a real shop is a greater danger to us stitchers than the shops' bottom line.

If Amazon runs our local needlepoint shops out of business by undercutting them on price, we won't have classes, stitch guides, help kitting threads, anyone to match dye lots for us when we run out of thread, assistance with color changes, places to see designs and threads in person while chatting to other stitchers, or any of the other one thousand and one things the shops do for us now.  It will destroy needlepoint as an art form.

Think about that the next time you start shopping for online bargains.  You get what you pay for, after all.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 21, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Thread and Needle Clutches

Ridgewood Needlepoint posted photos of what they call thread and needle clutches. These resemble jewelry rollups for travel. I've seen these in large sizes for knitting needles but I can't tell from the photo just how wide or long these are or what will fit comfortably in them. Still, if you are going to a class or on vacation and want your stitching supplies well organized for the trip, this might be just the thing. 
http://ridgewoodneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2015/05/new-thread-and-needle-clutchs.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 20, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tony Minieri Class Alert

The Needle Works has updated their class page with photos of Tony Minieri's "Austin Patch" which he designed for the shop and will be teaching July 21-22, 2015.  Class details are on their website as are photographs of the threads used in the four color ways.  I know fans of his designs will want to see his latest.
http://theneedleworks.com/austin-patch-by-anthony-minieri/

Note that this is a teaching piece only.  I am not certain it is exclusive to the shop but it may be.  I don't know if Tony will allow ghosts in the class but Needle Works will be able to advise you.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 27, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.