Now that you’ve finished your taxes and gotten a good night’s sleep, it’s time to celebrate with a little (or a LOT) of good S.E.X. (by S.E.X., I mean “stash enhancement experience,” of course … but if you wish to enjoy the other kind, too, then by all means, ENJOY! 
) at the online Needlework Show, which actually opened yesterday and runs through midnight on Monday, April 20th (but don’t wait until the last minute to place your order; please give the shop[s] you choose to order through plenty of time to order what you want for you).
Although the online Needlework Show is a wholesale show, so you’ll have to put together a list and give it to a participating shop to order for you, there’s not much better than being able to find out about the latest and greatest needlework patterns and products on the market — even while wearing your pajamas if you so choose! 
Participating fully in the online Needlework Show is one of the most important things we stitchers can do to show our support for the designers, the shops, the manufacturers, and every other part of this industry we love so much. Not only is it the absolute BEST opportunity we stitchers have to find out what is actually available in the needlework market, but this is also our chance to let store owners know exactly which of those available products we want and will buy if we can just get our eager mitts on them.
All other needlework markets are a guessing game for store owners, and all of those other needlework markets limit us stitchers, too — due to the fact that we may never get to see any number of designs and products that were offered, but that the shop owners decided not to purchase because they thought they might not sell. Since the online Needlework Show doesn’t just allow for but actually encourages stitchers’ input, it’s no longer a guessing game for shop owners as far as what they should buy. As long as we stitchers do our job by looking through the online Needlework Show and communicating with the shop owners, a significant amount of the risk shop owners take on when they purchase products is actually eliminated — because we’ve already promised them what we’re going to buy.
In other words, it’s my opinion as a stitcher that it’s my obligation to check out this show each time it rolls around, and then to provide my wish list, suggestions, and so on to my favorite shops. This is something substantial I can do — all by myself! — to keep this entire industry in business.
I’ve also found the online Needlework Show is a superb opportunity to interact with many of the designers, most of whom seem to welcome being contacted by us stitchers, especially during this show, with questions, suggestions, compliments, etc.
You also won’t want to miss the large variety of opportunities to win or download free patterns or products. These are available on various individual designers’ pages throughout the show, and also by completing the activities available on The Fun Page. Many of the contests can be entered daily, so make notes, and check back each day for more chances to win!
Unfortunately, my own actual local shop has so far refused to have anything to do with the online Needlework Show. (In fact, my local shop has pretty much refused to have anything to do with being online, and is pretty much in business only because she’s turned primarily into a yarn store. 
) However, I still try to utilize the online Needlework Show each time it rolls around to help my local shop owner improve her business by stopping in to her shop to try to get her to at least take a look at the online Needlework Show — while I’m there in the store. I haven’t been successful yet, and I wouldn’t be being honest if I didn’t admit I’m really losing patience with her. I don’t buy much from her anymore because she simply refuses to meet my stitching wishes, much less my stitching “needs.” But I keep trying because I keep hoping perhaps she’ll change her mind … that perhaps if she’d just take a look at what’s out there, if she’d just listen to me as a customer, things might change for the better.
If your local shop isn’t one of the participating retailers in the show, you might want to try having a similar chat with them (and hopefully you’ll be more successful because hopefully your shop owner will be more open-minded). In the meantime, you still won’t miss out; there are plenty of participating shops to choose from to place your order(s). You can even spread the wealth if you want to by ordering from more than one shop!
So, what treasures have you discovered in this online Needlework Show? Come back here to Independent Needlework News and let me know what you’ve just GOT to have! 
Also, let me know which shop(s) you chose to order from — and why?
