AUGUST, 2026

     What a month! The weather here in PA has been hot, hot, hot. Temps in the high 90's, heavy humidity, and just plain nasty. Even most of the July 4th, 2026 festivities were cancelled due to the weather being too hot for parades and outdoor activities. What happened to our warm summer days with a slight breeze where you could sit out. Now it is air conditioning to keep you comfortable. How life changes. This month is our Needlework Marketplace where designers let us know their new releases to come, and we can purchase on line instead of up close and personal like Nashville. I have started to post upcoming releases and will be doing so under our Needlework Marketplace tab. There patterns will be arriving after the show is over, so you can pre-order if you so choose and we will send as soon as they arrive.

      As with life, we have noticed changes in our industry. It seems when some customers visit our shop they no longer want to shop. They only want a specific pattern and expect us to keep it in the ready for them. They forget that we have a very good on-line presence and do sell out of products with many on order waiting for restocks to arrive. When we gracefully state that we will order the item for them, they turn us down stating they will wait - we know once they go home they will order from someone else. So - to make things easy, if you want a specific item, place an order and we will call you when it arrives to pick-up or we can ship and save you a visit. Then you will save yourself a wasted visit to our shop. Many times if you did look around, you might find something better than what you saw on line and like it better. Our shop is stocked to the gills with our racks overflowing - so maybe taking a look is worth the visit. Only you can make that choice.

      On the industry front - there are no changes. Kreinik still seems to be an issue with no light at the end of the tunnel. We have added some metallic from from Au Ver A Soie, #4 Braid with more to come if Kreinik continues to take forever for restocks. They are finally purchasing more spooling machines, so only time will tell if this issue gets resolved. All hand-dyed fabrics in stock - meaning R&R and Picture This Plus are

noted on our site with amounts available. They get reduced as they are sold. We will special order Picture This Plus fabrics - give it 8 weeks. Weeks Dye Works, Wichelt, Zweigart, Legacy, and a few others noted on our site we stock and re-order as colors are sold - most arrive with in a few weeks or sooner. We are experiencing prices on the rise. Most affect Kits, Ackfeld hardware, and Fabric. Some are leveling off depending on the item. We are only rising the price when we need to place a re-order. Now onto the postage. It seems USPS has decided to raise the postage prices again. Now not only are packages priced by weight, dimension, and distance - now also if they are rural. Meaning - if you are rural the package could cost must more then our estimate. If you get a note in your order and see postage is higher, then in the eyes of USPS, you are a rural delivery and we are sorry the postage is higher. We absorb postage on all back orders. However, iff the the price of the item exceeds the postage, it is not worth us loosing money sending a back order now that the rates are higher. Most times it only applies to flosses. We will be evaluating items as we get a handle on the additional postage.

      Again, remember Summer is vacation time and packages can take a little longer for us to get restocks if a designer is away. We recently waited 2 months for a restock - finding the designer was at a retreat, then went overseas for vacation. Once she arrived back home, our order was sent. Plan ahead. Same goes if your order is ready to ship and there is a credit card issue, we will call as well as send an e-mail to you before we cancel an order as we know you could be on vacation as well. We hate to cancel any order unless we contact the customer. We know many have life changes and we just want to be sure the customer really wants the order cancelled.

Enough for now, enjoy those hot Summer days,

Now on to some of the new releases that arrived last month

(***signifies New Designer)

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LES PETITES CROIX DE LUCIE released SUMMER OWL, plus Just Married, Family Farm, Autumn Shelve, Spring Cats, Spring Laundry and Mountain of Acorns

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ST THOMAS MERMAID is by NORA CORBETT who also released Belize Mermaid

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MOTIFS NOUVEAU is from JOAN ELLIOTT DESIGNS who also released ABC Stitching Angel, and Angel in White Stocking

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FOLK ART BASKET is  by SHAKESPEARE'S PEDDLER who also released Strawberry Sampler Reproduction, Ann Hallam 1816,

and Friends

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CUTE EMBROIDERY BY KATE released RED HALLOWEEN STAMP

as well as Yellow Halloween Stamp

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SPANGLED HOLIDAY PROJECT BAY is presented by IT'S SEW EMMA who also released Sweetheart Holiday Project Bag, Maple Leaf Holiday Project Bag, and Evergreen Holiday Project Bag; plus

Denim Bee Needle Minder

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RED, WHITE & BLUE LARGE SPOOL by JEANETTE DOUGLAS DESIGNS who also released Halloween Dots series 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12;

plus Plateitudes

REFLECTIONS OF USA #1 by SISTER LOUS STITCH who also released Reflections of USA #2 (each includes 2 patterns)

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SANTA'S FAVORITE DOCTOR by CRAFTY BLUEBONNET who also released North Carolina State Spool, BlueBonnet Stitch Co., and Santa's Favorite Paramedic

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SHANNON CHRISTINE DESIGNS released STITCHER HOBBY HOUSE plus Baker Hobby House, 2026 Nutcracker, Quilter Hobby House, Knitter Hobby House, and Evergreen Whispers

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HOME QUAKER is presented by PRIMROSE COTTAGE SAMPLERS who also released House Rules, Home Quilt, Little Bo Sheep and Home So Sweet Needleminders, Flower Floss Drops, House Rules Stitchers, Home Tween Home Charms PLUS

PLUS

For Christmas in July - ROBINS CHRISTMAS Christmas Sticker Pack, Christmas Stocking Charm, Winter Rules, Felice Navidad, Happy Christmas Geese, and Merry Mouse

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