Newsletter September/October 2022

Newsletters

September 28, 2022

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*

Greetings Lovely Ladies!
With daylight saving and some beautiful sunny days recently, spring is definitely in the air!
We have had a couple of rather intense months here at The Eye Of A Needle. I did some training at Bernina HQ in August learning all about the new Artlink Embroidery Software (more about that shortly), followed up the next weekend with a very successful trip to New Plymouth for the much anticipated Regional Day hosted by the Hine St Quiltmakers group.

The end of August wasn’t so great with the passing of my dear old dad at 94. Thank you to those of you who have acknowledged this…it always takes a wee while to resume life after the death of a loved one, and so it has been nice to have a couple of weekends at home since Dad left us.

With so much driving alone in the car over the past 6 weeks, it has also been a time of great reflection. Even though the past few weeks personally have been busy, sadly retail has not. There has been a lot of travel from Taupo to Hawkes Bay and the pull back to our roots has been very strong. With the closure of the Napier Bernina store in June, and an opportunity to take over the sewing machine servicing in the HB area, David and I have made a decision to return to Hawkes Bay and to relocate The Eye Of A Needle to Hastings at the end of this year.

I know there will be many of you who will question our decision to go home. Unfortunately with the increase in online sales, COVID, lockdowns, slow retail in Taupo over winter, and increasing freight charges – these are just a few of the contributing factors that have influenced our decision making process. The pull of family, more grandchildren arriving, and an open door in to Hawkes Bay, means the positives outweigh the negatives for us.

I appreciate each and every one of our loyal customers, and we thank you for your incredible support. I know we can’t be all things to all people, and we may not always have just the right fabric or stock for you. But I must say that during these uncertain times, supporting your local ‘bricks and mortar’ store is more important than ever if you want to see them stay in business. There are several craft shops closing down or on the market right now, which unfortunately is a reflection of current shopping trends.

We will continue to build up our stock online, as this seems to be the new way of shopping. Our website will be our in-between store while we develop our new ‘bricks and mortar’ store in Hawkes Bay. Personally I much prefer the face-to-face side of the business and our new store will have lots more opportunity for me to teach and to have more class interaction. I intend to delegate those time consuming jobs that I don’t really enjoy (i.e admin/website stuff) to focus more on creating beautiful things so that I can then teach and encourage you to make similar beautiful things.

Given this information, here is what you need to know now:

* The Eye Of A Needle will close the Taupo store on Thursday 22nd December

* The Eye Of A Needle will reopen in mid January/early February – our new
location is still to be finalised, but will most likely be in the Hastings /
Havelock North area.

* Our NEW store will be specialising in BERNINA product, By Annie product,
linen fabric and dressmaking notions and accessories.
We will no longer be a patchwork/quilting shop.

SALE!!! SALE!!! SALE!!

A RELOCATION SALE will start this week on Friday 30th September

* There will be a 30% discount off ALL marked fabric and all Fat/Long
Quarters.
* Fabric will be sold at $25 metre – minimum cut half metre.
* FQ’s and Long Quarters $6.50 each

* The sale excludes all Grunge fabric and all new fabric loaded on the website.
This will continue to be available at $36 metre

* The sale excludes all Bernina, Clover and By Annie products.

* Everything in the store that is for sale will have a green sticker. If you would
like to buy something not stickered you are welcome to make me an offer.

* There will be no holds permitted.

* Loyalty points will no longer be valid as all stock is already discounted.
Loyalty points are not redeemable for cash

* All outstanding vouchers must to be redeemed by 1st December.
No further vouchers will be issued.

CLASSES WILL CONTINUE IN TERM 4!
We’re not leaving yet!

All scheduled weekly classes will continue through Term 4 – in fact there are still some exciting NEW classes listed below. A minimum of 4 paid up registrations will be necessary for the class to go ahead.

THE EYE OF A NEEDLE MYSTERY QUILT BOM

Blocks for The Mystery Quilt will still be available on a month by month basis, and for those of you who have already signed up for this BOM, you will continue to receive the blocks in the same way as you receive them now. If you prefer to pick up all of your blocks between now and December, that is ok too.

MAKING LUNA LAPIN

Making Luna Lapin has been a huge hit, and the girls doing the class have churned out some gorgeous dresses, wool felt coats, shoes and armchairs so far.
There will be one last class on Saturday 29th October to complete outfits and/or make another new one for Luna, or her brother Alfie.

URBAN OWLS – REPEAT – URBAN OWLS

I still have 10 Urban Owls booklets and kits made up which we will sell to you as a Block of the Month; You will need to purchase the Urban Owls booklet from us first for $75.

I have 6 full kits made up, ready to sell. You can either purchase the FULL kit for $400 + the booklet, OR you can set up an AP and pay monthly for 11 kits over the next 6 months at $37 per month + postage. This BOM was originally $50 month, and has been massively reduced to sell. You can now save $150 on the kit, if you sign up BEFORE NOVEMBER 1st.

WONDERFIL THREADS WORKSHOP
Saturday 19th NOVEMBER

Barrie Ashton has been a great supporter of our business and supplies us with all our Wonderfil threads like Konfetti, Tutti, Decobob and the Sue Spargo ranges of Eleganza & Ellana.
Barrie taught a threads class in the shop in our first year in business, and is rebooked to come and teach another class on 19th November from 10am-3pm. Her classes are always very popular, and you will learn how to use different weight threads on your sewing machine and how to adjust your tension accordingly. The photo below is a sampler of what you will make once you have mastered the techniques in the class.
The class will cost $50 per person (Barrie’s fee) + class requirements which will be provided to you on registration. This will be a very educational workshop for you and may be your last chance to attend a good educational workshop at The Eye Of A Needle with a wonderful tutor.

CHRISTMAS TREE SKIRT

I am always being asked about new Christmas projects! Obviously time will be limited this year, but there will be 2 opportunities to make a Christmas Tree skirt.

Class 1. You will make a Christmas tree skirt using a jelly roll, or strips of Christmas fabric bought from The Eye Of A Needle.
This class will be held on Saturday 5th November from 10am – 3pm.
Class fee will be $30 + your pattern and fabric.
(There is a sample skirt in store if you wish to see it)

Class 2. Using your Bernina 5 series Embroidery unit you will learn how to use the Bernina Artlink 9 software to create your own Christmas embroidery patterns. You can then assemble your panels to create a Christmas tree skirt.
All fabric to be bought from The Eye Of A Needle.
This class will be held on Saturday 12th November from 10am – 3pm
Class fee will be $50 + your pattern and fabric

BY ANNIE CLAM UP ZIPPERED POUCH CLASS

This will be the last class for the year. Make some super cute Clam bags in gorgeous fabrics as Christmas gifts, in a variety of sizes.
Easy and fun to make, these bags are perfect for storing and carrying make-up, sewing supplies, tech gear, and more.

The pattern includes complete step-by-step instructions for making the bags with or without quilted fabric and for adding optional iron-on vinyl laminate to make the inside easy to wipe clean.

Double-slide zippers and handy grab tabs make the bags easy to open wide and attached side panels prevent contents from falling out. An optional strap with swivel hook may also be added.
When empty, the bags nest inside one another to save space.

Finished sizes of bags are as follows:
Extra Small (XS): 2¾”H x 3½”W x 2⅝”D
Small (S): 3½”H x 4½”W x 3⅜”D
Medium (M): 4¼”H x 5½”W x 4″D
Large (L): 4⅞”H x 6½”W x 4⅝”D
Extra Large (XL): 5½”H x 7½”W x 5″D

We will hold 2 classes to make these bags:
Friday 2nd December 10am – 3pm
Saturday 3rd December 10am – 3pm

Class fee $25 + your pattern and fabric bought from The Eye Of A Needle

That’s all from me this time. I will keep you updated via email and on Facebook as our path to relocate gets clearer.
We are reallyexcited about this move, and hope you will continue to support us as we continue to build our business into everything I have dreamed about over many years.

Happy Stitching

Kay

Our mailing address is:

*|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|*

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

*|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|*
*|END:IF|*

Comments are closed