Unfortunately, the way my tickets worked out, I was really only able to attend on Saturday. I flew in later on Friday, and left Sunday morning right away. I flew back into Omaha, and was able to spend a few days with my grandmother who was visiting my parents. She celebrated her 79th birthday! Happy birthday Grandma Jean!

Anyway, I got to the convention center right away on Saturday morning for the show's opening at 10. I had eight hours of looking -- a search through about 250 booths lay ahead of me. Prepared, I wore comfortable clothing and shoes, and I toted a carry-on with wheels to tote the many catalogs and literature being handed out. The convention center has a very large, carpeted room (seems more like a stadium) to house the many booths set up for these kinds of affairs. So although the room was filled with people, it was quiet and comfortable.

I met up with my friends, Judy and Marsha, from the Crosse Stitchery in La Crosse, Wis., who had been there the day before. They told me I better head straight for "Row 13" (sounds mysterious!), because that is what a lot of you would be interested in. Row 13 was, of course, on the far end of the center, but it was worth the walk -- Bent Creek, Earth Threads, The Gentle Art, Heart in Hand, JBW Designs, Just My Imagination, Sisters and Best Friends, The Thread Gatherer, Twisted Threads and others were there. The booths were imaginative, and fun...like entering little worlds of models, products and treats (most booths offered chocolate, candies, or freebees like notepads or buttons). Bent Creek had a cute "Under Construction" theme -- brown paper, ladders, plywood and tools made it look like a construction zone. Sisters and Best Friends had decorated Christmas trees, and a welcoming spot on the corner of a row. Twisted Threads had cute display pieces, with many of their models there. Unfortunately, for all of us, no pictures are allowed on the showroom floor :(

Just Nan, Shepherd's Bush, and Charland Designs handed out a three-part free chart which you will be able to get your hands on soon (maybe next month? Maybe October...) Just Nan's booth was huge -- wallpapered, with a table for seating, and many of her models. Shepherd's Bush had their latest pieces there, and they gave me, with my order, a sweet little Sheep Button (made exclusively for the shop owners).

I really can't convey how neat it was to see hundreds and hundreds of finished pieces in person. For just about every one, I said to myself, "Wow, that looks way better than on the front of the chart." I got to meet so many people (wish I could have taken you all along with me in my travel bag). Some were friendly, some were a little more bashful. Probably the biggest thing I gained from attending market was letting all of these distributors and designers see my face. Some who had been reluctant to give me accounts are now interested in letting me carry their wares. Some whose products I had been reluctant to carry, I am now considering. So how about that? Let me tell you about what I saw from some of my "standards," and what I'm going to be adding to my catalog yet this year.

(I just dumped a big pile out on my table, so I'm going through these in no particular order.)

I stopped by Threads Through Time's booth and talked with Nancy, who is so nice. She has NINE (yes, as in the number after eight) new Silk Gauze kits. Her kits are so reasonably-priced, and sooooo cute. She had all of her silk gauze pieces up on the wall, and I tell you, seeing them made me want to do all of them. I ordered the nine new kits -- and they'll be in sometime this month. Her silk gauze kits would make sweet framed pieces, but I picture them finished as pins you could wear to needlework meetings and stitch and sews.

Linda from Lizzie Kate had her oldest daughter helping at the booth (she was cheerful and most helpful). I had the chance to speak with Linda (the designer), and told her that my customers are all enjoying her little charts (the Snippits). She has some cute new things which I ordered. Hopefully they'll be in soon. There are two new snippits: Santa '99 - Merry Ho Ho (a Santa holding a star on a stick with a cardinal on his knitted cap -- very cute), and Joy, a stocking, wreath and reindeer which spell the word. This is embellished with Just My Imagination Buttons. New charts include Turkey Time (with a pilgrim juggling, a la "Cold Hands, Warm Heart", and a turkey on a separate piece), Happy Birthday Earth, which comes with a year 2000 gold charm, Tiny Tidings IV (with a sheep, a snowman, an ornament piece, and a few sayings), Pets Do Christmas -- a dog piece and a cat piece. Her new kits are Boo To You (a cat sitting behind a pumpkin that tucks in a pillow you get with the kit), and Frosty Friends Kit -- a sweet little snowman holding a birdhouse. I promise to post things as soon as I get them -- remember, this time of year is busy for all of my distributors, so things will come in slowly.

The Just My Imagination button company has changed its name to Just Another Button Company. But they're never "just another button company" to us, are they? They are so nice -- they gave me a free heart button/pin to wear. Their buttons are being used EVERYWHERE and on EVERYTHING. I enjoy their speedy service, the quality of their product, and their good ideas. Even if you don't have embellishments on a project (listed in the instructions), add some of these buttons to make it even neater. A lot of the designers had added these embellishments as afterthoughts, and I can tell you, the dimension was a real plus.

I am considering adding the Thread Gatherer fibers. They are VERY VERY pretty, and I love variagated silks (hers are the most vibrant.) I gathered from talking to her that waiting for them may take weeks sometimes, so if I do add her line, I will try to keep quite a bit in stock. Are you interested in these fibers? I am also considering the possibility of allowing people to buy half skeins of these fibers. We'll see how this pans out. She was reluctant to sell to Internet shops, but after talking to me, seemed confident I was all right! :)

Black Swan had a couple of cute kits I picked up for you all. They'll be in soon. One was a pumpkin snowman -- very unique! And the other is a little Dragon kit (very medieval looking.) They seemed like things some of you would want -- watch for them in the Basket.

Earth Threads had neat new ringed booklets called "Ring of Stitches" -- laminated nicely-printed notecards with crystal clear diagrams of many different stitches. Because it's held together by two rings, you can stand the book up for while you're stitching. You can also add cards as they are introduced. Those will be in soon, and will retail for $18. They're a "must have."

I also chatted with the Birds of a Feather people, and looked at their hand-dyed linens. Again, this is something you all might be interested in. They didn't come in as many colors or counts as I can get the Green Mt. linens in, so I'm not sure about this addition? Anyone interested? There are five colors, and they have no plans for adding others.

The Sisters and Best Friends gals were among the nicest I met. I bought some to-die-for kits from them, and hopefully they'll be here soon. One kit is called Christmas Folk Ornaments -- it comes with sweet little metal tubs and charts for making really cute Christmas tree ornaments. Another was Warm Mitten...Snowman. This kit comes in a large bright felt mitten, and includes homemade buttons, including a three dimensional carrot nose. I also ordered a few kits that come with tiny knitted mittens and stockings. They signed and gave a chart to me, which I thought was sweet. And no, you can't have it -- ha ha!

Twisted Threads has some really neat new charts and kits out -- I snapped up the new ones -- Baby Blessings, Itty Bitty Lavender, Itty Bitty Holly, Itty Bitty Santa's Beard '99, Itty Bitty Seasons II: Autumn and Winter, and another kit with pumpkins on it (can't find what that one's called). I LOVE the over-one projects (esp. since I'm running out of walls). These designs could also be done over two -- Ruth Sparrow's style is really developing. Love the new ones!

I'm also getting a bunch of kits in from Heart in Hand: the newones include The Great White Pumpkin, Checkerbird, and Snowbound. I'm also getting in some of their previously-released kits. Their packaging is really cute (and I am a sucker for packaging). Their new charts are sweet: Fall Fobs, Wee Girlfriends, and Wee Hope (love the Wee Girlfriends one!)

O.K., here's the big news of the convention (why am I sticking this in the middle?) There's a new product being distributed by a customer and friend of mine (she participated in the Secret Stitcher program last year.) Peri travelled to Japan to help a company develop a line of silks that MATCHES FLOSS EXACTLY. (Yes, you read that right. Keep reading, there's more.) I bought the entire line of Tiny Twist, a so-soft silk that is one ply, easily used for cross stitching and other types of needlework, so hopefully that will be in soon. Here's the big news part: 65 cents per skein. Yes, 65 cents. It is going to revolutionize the way people stitch, I guarantee it. Why would you want to stitch with floss, when you can get silk for just a little bit more. I'm sure the other silk companies are nervous -- this price is way below any other company's prices. If you'd like to order all 450 colors, it's $250 for the set. Peri said some designers were buying 20 sets. I plan on using this as soon as I start another project. I'll get information up as soon as I can about the flosses. If you'd like to go to her site, it's at http://www.eternasilk.com She should have a conversion up. Right now, the conversion works perfectly for Anchor and most DMC. She's working on the rest of the DMC colors.

Hester's Needle (Janie Applebaum) was there as well -- her first market, too. She has six new designs, which you'll love if you're a sampler fan: Alone with You Sampler, Time and Patience, Grace and Truth, Way to God, Family Record Sampler, and My Path (so pretty!)

Shepherd's Bush had some new pieces posted, some of which won't be available until mid-September, probably. The new stocking, Bertie's Stocking, is for their English uncle. It's very cute -- a bearded man. Other new charts will include Joyful Christmas, Beware, and Witch's Moon (all very cute). The new kits are Sailor's Collar (a companion to Cranberry Pinafore), Trick or Treat, A Rosy Garden, Christmas Mat (comes with painted mats), and Halloween Treat Bag. These kits will probably take six weeks or so to get to me, so if you want them, I can place you on a waiting list! I don't really remember what any of these look like specifically -- they didn't really have clear pictures available. But I know I want them all!

Bent Creek had some cute new kits and charts: Gobble (in the basket now), Winter Arches (very cute), Joy, Border House, and minis The Black Cat, Seasons Greatings, and The Bugs. I got a few of their kits which I think you'll like: Boo, Hope, Silver and Gold, Peace, and Wish Upon a Flake. I will post pictures as they come. The packaging on their kits was a big selling point. These sweet, easy-to-finish designs will make you an addict.

Some of you will be very happy to know that I will be adding Ewe and Eye designs. I have always loved these, but the company's COD or pre-pay only policies made me think twice about opening an account. Ewe and Eye now has a distributor, so I will be getting them in from that company. I will be starting with their newest designs, and working my way back. I think at the entire show, I placed these in my top-three favorite designs.

Drawn Thread has some cute new things, but of course I can't find what they were. I remember that there is a companion piece to The Cloister Garden, which many of you purchased. There is also a Spot of Fall (to go with the Spot of Spring and Spot of Summer). She had a few others, and I was glad to meet Cynthia -- she is a doll.

Miranda at Weeks Dye Works, and The Gentle Art people both had new sampler threads. The Gentle Art has some lovely new limited editions which will hopefully be in soon. Miranda at WDW is doing great -- she had a nice big booth and lots of helpers. I like to see her do well (she's another one of those "dolls.")

Just Nan's new charts and designs are wonderful. I also bought some show-exclusive kits that come with chart, floss and angel charm. Her designs should be here in a week and a half. Nan and her husband were both very gracious, and it was nice to put faces with voices/e-mails. Her booth was professional in all aspects, and just so "Just Nan."

The Goode Huswife and Barrick Samplers, along with their joint venture, Chartmakers, has some wonderful new things, which will come in my automatic this month. Their flare for design gets better and better with every new batch. There was a lovely new one with a black background, and stylized borders with deer in the middle. Anne (GH) had a neat new one based on The Peaceable Kingdom, as well. There are a lot of new designs, and I thought there was an especially cute piece with some of their tombstone designs, four designs, placed checkerboard style, and done over one thread all one one piece of fabric.

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone...Sheepish Designs is someone I've been wanting to add for a while -- will look into starting to carry those. The folks at Sekas were fun to chat with and very nice. Workbasket had some very cute things. I also saw some pieces from Little by Little that were neat (the designer and I chatted for quite a while). And I bought a number of samplers from a company whose information I can't find now -- I just remember she had some really really neat Quaker motif style ornaments (she does reproduction samplers, and some she designs herself to look like reproductions -- her presentation was nice, she was sweet, but I can't remember who it was. I suppose I'll get a surprise in the mail this month!)

What was big at market: little. We all have recognized our customers' desire to do small, accomplishable projects. There was a lot of over-one, a lot of ornaments, a lot of small pieces like needlerolls, pin cushions, scissors weights, and small framed pieces. They all looked like so much fun -- things you could accomplish in a week, and frame with a ready-made frame you can buy anywhere.

Also "in" -- EMBELLISHMENTS. As I said above, many are using the Just Another Button Company buttons, and many are using Crystal Treasures from Mill Hill (I can get them all -- ask if there are specific ones you need.) Embellishments add so much personality to a simple piece. Express yourself by adding something extra.

Common themes are still Santas, bees/beehives/beeskeps, and reproduction samplers. But a lot of designers have really unique ideas percolating, as well.

Fun fibers also were prevalent. Just about everyone is using overdyes, silks, overdyed perles, braids, metallics, furs, etc... There aren't many designers who strictly design in floss anymore. It's a challenge facing many of us -- how to keep up with all of the fibers from many companies.

I noticed not many of the pieces at market were matted, although most were framed. I am assuming this makes them easier to pack, and gives more space on the wall. But I do a lot of framing without mats. If you choose a unique/fun frame, you don't really need a mat.

I have to tell you, I'm exhausted. I drove seven hours in the car today, with my two kids in the back seat. I knew I had to sit down and tell you all about market, and I feel like although I've blabbered on and on, I've told you only a portion of what I saw. Keep stopping back to enjoy what I add. I feel like I've officially become a needlework retailer! Let's have fun!

© 2007 Theresa Venette. Articles on this site may be reproduced in needlework group newsletters or other handouts with permission of author and proper attribution. Send questions, comments and suggestions to: xspeddler@yahoo.com