1st Newsletter from Hastings – February 2023

Hello Lovely Ladies!
Greetings from Hastings and Happy New Year to you all!

Well what a month or two it has been! We managed to get a few lovely sunny days between Christmas and New Year and I must say the cooler weather since has been brilliant for unpacking a shop over January.
We are so thankful to have had a storage unit right over the back fence, so we’ve been able to slowly move boxes from there to the shop. The storage unit is now empty and the keys have been handed back to a new customer.

Last Wednesday 1st February, we opened our Hastings store! The layout is quite different to the Taupo store; we have 4 different rooms. As you enter through the gate on Miller St and come in the front door, you will find the BERNINA Room and the HABBY room on your left, the FABRIC Room on your right and the CLUB room is at the back of the shop next to a very roomy kitchen, ideal for all-day retreats.
David’s work room for sewing machine servicing is accessible from the back entrance off Ellison Road which is perfect for school drop offs outside of shop hours, but it’s also just out the back door. 

We are delighted with our new store – we hope it flows well, but of course we now need CUSTOMERS to check out the place and give us feedback! We are already aware that some folk are struggling to find us – just look for the white BERNINA flag on the gate – which this week we hope will stay open. There is also a motion activated ‘ding dong’ when you come in the door so if I’m in the back room I will know you are there. I’m sure we will need to tweak some things as we become familiar with how it all flows.
 

We have been asked by almost every new customer if we will be taking classes. The answer is YES, but it may take a while to find out what our customers want, so I will start slowly.

Some Hawkes Bay ladies have fabulous big sewing machines but don’t know how to use all the wonderful features they have, so my first few classes will be mostly based around BERNINA education

We will start with a CRAZY COLOUR MYSTERY QUILT which I initially taught when we first opened the shop in Taupo. It was a very successful class, and well worth repeating (with a few tweaks).

This is a project specially designed to use the decorative stitches on your sewing machine. It doesn’t matter what brand of machine you own: every machine has decorative stitches, even regular stitches like the straight stitch can be used to decorate, although my teaching will be based around the Bernina brand.
You will be working with machine quilting threads and other special (metallic) threads. There will be opportunities to work with ribbons, trims, sequins, strings (couching) and freehand quilting with this project. The plan is to have fun using different stitches to create one block each month for 12 months. With each block you will learn a new technique. What you don’t complete in class, you can finish at home over the following month before you return to class for the next block.

You will have the opportunity to buy extra feet for your BERNINA at discounted prices. There will be lots of samples to experiment with in the class, so you can try before you buy.
The colour of your quilt doesn’t necessarily need to be as crazy as my sample below, but it does help to have some colour in this project to allow you to explore more options with variegated threads. You will need to choose 8-10 plain/textured fabrics from a selection which we will have in store.

The full list of requirements and the class dates will be available with your registration. A non-refundable deposit of $50 will secure your place and choice of day. There will be an option to attend EITHER a Tuesday morning class 10am – 12.30pm OR a Friday morning class 10am – 12.30pm.

Classes are inter-changeable, so if you are unable to make your regular Tuesday class one month, you may be able to swap to the Friday class (subject to space being available). There will be a maximum of 6 people per class. 
Each class will cost $10 per month – you can either pay each time you attend or pay the full amount of $120 up front + the $50 deposit making the full CLASS fee $170.
We prefer all fabrics and class requirements to be purchased from The Eye Of A Needle please.

The first class will begin on TUESDAY 28th February OR FRIDAY 3rd March, and will be held once a month on the first week of that month.

It seems a very long time ago since I ordered this range of fabric and patterns, and last week it finally got unpacked and folded onto boards. I will be spending the next couple of weeks getting a sample ready; I have 10 kits available.
Our 2023 BOM will be launched on Friday 17th March, when the first block will be released. You can either pick up your kit in store, or I can courier the BOM to you each month.
We will hold a class on the third Friday of each month so if you need help with anything regarding this pattern I am available to assist you.
The cost of The Flower Farm BOM will be $45 month. Postage will be extra.

New subscribers to my newsletter may not know yet about my passion for By Annie bags and patterns!

 I like to hold a new By Annie bag class every 3-4 months as there are so many patterns I want to try! Usually I will make a sample and then I like to share it and then lots of people want to make their own. The Project Bags are great for organizing everything you need for each of your projects! Because we are starting a new year with fresh classes, it would be a fun idea to make yourself a Project Bag before you start making more projects with us! It’s a brilliant introduction to all things ByAnnie with quite a simple pattern to start with.

The handy zippered bags have sturdy quilted bases and vinyl windows for visibility of contents. A handle at the top may be used for carrying or hanging.
The medium, large, and jumbo bags also have colorful borders at the bottom. These borders may be pieced or may feature a single fabric.

Hold and organize everything from sewing supplies to puzzles, games and more in these sturdy bags.

Pattern includes instructions for bags in four sizes:

SMALL: 6½”H x 10½”W

MEDIUM: 10½”H x 12½”W

LARGE: 13½”H x 13½”W

JUMBO: 16½”H x 16½”W

Classes to make the Project Bag will be held on Saturday 25th March and Saturday 1st April. The class will start at 9.30am and finish at 3pm and the class fee is $25.
We prefer that the pattern and all class requirements are bought from The Eye Of a Needle please.

As you may be aware, TEOAN are the initials of The Eye Of A Needle, so I will occasionally mention TEOAN in passing.
if you wish to become part of the TEOAN loyalty scheme, you will be entered into the LOYALTY programme on our computer system and from there you will qualify for special member rates and discounts that less regular customers will not be eligible for.
Every time you make a purchase with us at The Eye Of A Needle (TEOAN) you will earn loyalty points. This will be equivalent to 5 points per dollar spent. When the sum of your points = 250 you will qualify for a $10 discount on FABRIC purchases only.
Loyalty points will expire after 12 months if they are not redeemed within that time frame. Loyalty points are not redeemable on BERNINA products or sale items already reduced.
‘Loyalty’ will be at the discretion of Management; loyalty points can not be redeemed for cash.

I look forward to meeting more of the ‘locals’ over the days and weeks ahead; I also welcome visits from our faithful Taupo friends! I miss you!
With Waitangi weekend almost behind us, and many kids returning to school this week, it feels like we can now really get down to business and work!

I hope to see many of you in store soon – alternatively I welcome your comments on Facebook and Instagram!

Happy Stitching

Kay