Cynthia showed us these two beauties.
She entered both in the Bridgewater Fair and won first place ribbons for each!

Among other crafts, Marianne also makes beautiful quilts!

Marianne made me a frog pocket book!  LOL!

And she knits, too!

Donna and Terre showed us their Victoria Sampler finishes.

As usual, all your preparations were just wonderful. I so look forward to the goodie bags and door prizes. You have such a generous and creative network of designers and suppliers that know just what we stitchers would like!
     Dawn's class was so informative. I really liked her style of presenting historical background, demonstrating the stitches and then giving the stitchers time to work at their own speed. It was relaxing and we learned a lot as well. It is plain to see that Dawn is really passionate about her samplers.
     Each Hideaway I have attended has its own atmosphere. It was different having a small group of stitchers at this Hideaway. The whole group was much more intimate and we had time to really get to know each other. I'm sorry I had to miss the trip to Old Sturbridge Village (but the graduation was worth it). I can't wait to see photos of that trip.
      Again, thank you for all your hard work putting together Stitcher's Hideaways. See you in Mystic!    
                                   ~  Linda E.

Jen and Cynthia with doorprizes from Karen Capello, a friend of Stitcher’s Hideaway

Linda with doorprize from With My Needle

The Sturbridge retreat was so much fun!  Dawn's design was awesome and so much fun to stitch using all of the special stitches!  Her instructions and diagrams are very clear and easy to follow.   She takes a lot of care in preparing her kits and I really liked the fact that she packaged the thread in little plastic  bags!   That's a small thing but it makes it so much easier to store that lone lose thread. I also liked that she included both a black and white chart and a color chart in her instructions.  
      Food was wonderful as usual and we all ate way too much.   It was fun to see familiar faces as well as meeting new stitchers.  Chris and Pam did a great job in enticing us with all of the newest stitching items.  They always do such a great job in knowing exactly what we can't live without.  Our trip to Sturbridge Village to view their new needlework exhibit as well as seeing their Collections Storage building was absolutely awesome!  We all drooled at all of the lovely needlework pieces done mostly by young girls as well as tons of old items they have in storage.  The experience was over way too soon and we could have spent days in the building and still not have been able to see everything. 
      Thanks Sue for all of the special touches you do to make your retreats so special.  I'm always amazed at all of the fun stash and snacks you give us and for your cute designs you make to remember our time together. 
                         ~ Linda  M.

Dawn LOVES Weeks Dye Works!

Terre with a door prize from Stitcher’s Hideaway
-- a Sudberry House box

Sue, you outdid yourself again! we had a wonderful time!! Going to Old Sturbridge Village was awesome, I hope we can do that again!!!  See you at Mystic!!

                                         ~ Donna S.

Anne with doorprize from Jeannette Douglas Designs

Wonderful instructor, patient, very knowledgeable -- her teaching us about Martha Washington while we worked on our sampler was just grand!  I enjoyed learning more about Martha Washington.  She really does an exceptional job of research to tie into the different stitches.  I wish I could have taped her commentaries.
     As I was rather a novice linen stitcher (due to an absence of several years), Dawn took extra time to make sure I knew how to do the stitches.  She was always helpful, never rushed me, a natural teacher.
      The trip to Sturbridge Village was OVER THE TOP.  What an experience to see all that needlework from so long ago--it was so thoughtful of you to arrange it, the guides were very informative and knowledgeable about the subject.  It was so beneficial for me to see those pieces that young girls had done.  I figured if they could do that, I could too--except maybe for the Queen Stitch -   lolol 
      Also, coming from an area that has a dearth of cross-stitchers and shops, it was fantastic to meet other stitchers and visit with them.
      The retreat was great--I enjoyed myself immensely, learned a lot (Dawn is a phenomenal instructor, isn't she?) --you were so well organized, so calm, so caring.
     Thanks for organizing these types of retreats--what a getaway!
                                  ~ Anne from OR

Gail and Jen stitching away

What a wonderful retreat.  Nice and cozy.  As always, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was so happy to see familiar faces and a few new ones too.  Food-- yummy, yummy!  I can't believe I actually passed up dessert at one meal, but I was too stuffed to fit it in.  Dawn is an awesome teacher and I absolutely loved hearing all the history on Martha.  She was an amazing woman.  The tour at Sturbridge Village was to die for.  I can't believe we actually got to see the beautiful pieces in their vault.  Looking forward to next time.  Thanks again.                            ~ Cynthia

Sue-
     I want to congratulate you on another fine retreat.  Dawn did an awesome job of combining the right amount of lecture about Martha with an excellent job of instructions.  It’s amazing that after all of these years, I can still learn many new stitches.  Thanks. 
    Your friend in stitching, Deb