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2012 Needlepoint Showcase in Phoenix
TNNA Winter Needlearts Market
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix, Arizona
January 21-23, 2012

Answering a request voiced by a majority of NeedleArts wholesalers and retailers, the TNNA Board of Directors decided to hold the Winter Tradeshow in Phoenix this year, and from the responses received from nearly everyone, the decision was well received. The airport known as “Sky Harbor” is easy to get to from almost anywhere and downtown Phoenix features many fine, reasonable priced restaurants. The response was so uniformly positive that the Board has decided to return to Phoenix in 2014.

This year’s theme was “Celebrate the Southwest,” and everything from the design and color scheme to the opening ceremony fulfilled this spirit. Since becoming NPG Chair, I’ve had the opportunity to view the ribbon cutting ceremony that opens the show every Saturday morning, but this is the first time I’ve seen everyone fall silent as they watched Apache tribe member Ken Duncan offer a Native American prayer of peace and sing a homage to the “Four Sacred Mountains,” a moving experience to be sure.

The festivities opened Friday evening with the “Needlepoint Showcase” coupled with “Sample It” both in the same grand ballroom. Attendance was nothing short of fantastic, affording needlepoint vendors an opportunity to display their newest designs and finished products to an audience composed of all segment groups. Attendees were greeted by Ken’s wife, Doreen, in authentic Apache dress. Ken and Doreen operate “Yellow Bird Productions,” a Phoenix based professional family dance company whose members have visited 40 individual countries on behalf of Arizona and the Native American spirit.

Oh, and did I mention that overall attendance was up across the board, with Needlepoint mounting a particularly strong showing. Almost every designer featured a multitude of new designs that retailers eagerly ordered in abundance. If you’re a needlepoint aficionado, you have much to look forward to as our designers are filling and shipping orders as rapidly as possible. In just a few weeks your local retailer will be awash with beautiful new hand-painted needlepoint canvases. Happy Stitching!

Warren “Pete” Poitras
NPG Chair