To our customers and friends,

We are so grateful for your loyal support of Needleworks! Thanks to you, we are coming to the end of another year of creative productivity. We’ve seen an increasing number of new stitchers and designers that have contributed to an exciting year of continued growth. We admire the work of our experienced stitchers and the new stitching talent we have seen this year. We hope you continue to appreciate and experience the exceptional quality which is the standard you expect from our Needleworks “elves.”

As we approach the end of the 2022 finishing season, we want to share what we have learned working through the last two years of a pandemic and the epidemic growth within our needlepoint community. The following are likely to become standard to our operation.

Acceptance and Delivery of Your Project(s)

    • Once again, we are able to greet you in-person at our workroom, meet you at your vehicle in our parking lot, and provide delivery service such as UPS.

Finishing Form

    • A huge debt of gratitude to customers that downloaded and completed our Finishing Request Form and learned the terminology of our workroom staff. We have reduced paper usage by a whopping 75% and have obtained more complete and accurate information on just one form for our finishers.

Deadlines

    • Beginning Monday, October 31, 2022, we will begin accepting finishing for the 2023 season.
    • Our annual deadline for the coming year will be determined by the volume of finishing we receive from our customers and the personal circumstances of our staff.
    • Please promptly send or bring in items that you want finished in 2023.
    • If you desire to have an item for a special occasion such as a baby or wedding, please request a ‘need-by-date.’
    • When scheduling the coming year’s production, we will continue to log items received by date order. We will then sort projects by theme and seasons, such as, Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, or Easter. Once we have completed the projects for a season, we will then commence work on the next holiday or event.
    • We will no longer schedule a deadline for each season, but instead we will have one closing date that we will announce when we approach capacity.

Deposits

    • You have the option to send deposits for finishing if you choose to make a down payment. If you prefer to forego a deposit, we request a credit card through which we can receive full payment upon completion of the item.

Fabric and Trim

    • Fabric and trim availability is now an opportunity for new and creative sources. Some of our “go-to” favorite, tried-and-true fabrics have changed or are no longer being manufactured. This year, we learned that the ultrasuede that we rely on for some of our complex shapes such as crosses and stars has been redeveloped by the manufacturer. It now contains less petroleum and more plant matter. The new ultrasuede is better for the environment and has the same performance ability as the previous fabric. The most notable overall change is in some color shades. In future, an exact match of previous fabric will not be guaranteed.
    • Our sourcing for the best quality materials is of utmost importance. We consider durability, appropriate use for our unique assembly methods and exceptional quality standards when selecting a product and try to buy for an entire season. Whether we are selecting the fabric, threads for our custom cording, fonts used in monogramming or interior components such as interfacing, batting or stabilizer, we are mindful that a change of a component is always a possibility. Now, you will have the option to purchase additional fabric for remaining items in a matched set, such as a nativity or 12 days of Christmas series, or a family set of stockings.

We look forward to creating many more cherished pieces for you in the coming year and, as always, are available by phone, email, or in person for consultations and individual concerns.

Thank you,

Judith and the staff of Needleworks