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January 10, 2012
Hello Stitchers!
I have finally posted the Fun Report for the Mystic 2011 Retreat with Jeannette Douglas as instructor - Enjoy!
Sue
January 4, 2012
I have just opened registration for the Sturbridge Retreat!! Woo-hoo!!!
Here’s to a wonderful New Year filled with stitching adventures!!
Sue
December 28, 2011
I hope everyone has been thoroughly enjoying the holidays! Some of you have told me that you’re getting in quite a bit of stitching and finishing during your vacation days and have shown me the pictures! You are all awesome!
I have some additional news to share with you about the Sturbridge Retreat (July 5-6 with instructor Ellen Chester of With My Needle). On the afternoon of July 6th there will be a very special presentation on Celebrating Patriotism by our favorite ladies from Old Sturbridge Village -- Jean Contino, Coordinator of Households, and Rebecca Beall, Collections Manager. Celebrating Patriotism: Patriotic imagery and emblems could be found on a variety of early 19th century items, from embroidery to fabric to ceramics and art. Jean and Rebecca will give us a look at how early New Englanders expressed their patriotic sentiments through everyday objects. The presentation will include a look at excerpts from letters and diaries describing 19th century celebrations such as Independence Day, and a variety of objects from the Old Sturbridge Village collection such as needlework pictures with patriotic motifs, embroidered memorials to George Washington, dress clothing which might have been worn for festive celebrations, and an assortment of household objects bearing patriotic imagery.
I have now posted the Sturbridge Retreat Schedule and am filling in more and more information. I expect to open registration within a couple of weeks.
I have a few openings for the Alumni Retreat, so as promised I will be opening the retreat on January 1 to non-alum to attend -- some are already on a waiting list hoping for a chance to join us! It’s always great to meet new stitchers!
See you at a retreat soon!
Sue
December 15, 2011!
Hello Stitchers!!
What a fun and busy time of year!! I’m soaking in every moment of it, while at the same time planning the 2012 retreats.
There are just a few openings left for the Alumni Winter Escape Retreat so register now to get in on the fun. On January 1st I will open any remaining spots to non-alum who would very much like to join us. This retreat is crazy fun. We take over the hotel for 2 days and get silly, stitch, shop, and eat delicious food to our heart’s content. No instructor, no common project -- it’s just Stitchers Gone Wild!
 I am getting close to wrapping up details on the Sturbridge Stitcher’s Hideaway Retreat and will open registration as soon as I can. Until then, I have posted some information to share with you. It will be so nice to have Ellen Chester teach again! She is such a sweetheart and her designs are so gorgeous. For this retreat she will be teaching “Fruit of the Vine”, which can be completed as a sampler or as a huswife! The wonderful flexibility of this project will meet the needs and delights of a variety of stitchers.
The Sturbridge retreat is scheduled for July 5-6 -- right after Independence Day. On July 4th there is going to be a fun day at Old Sturbridge Village when they hold An 1830s Independence Day Celebration. In the evening there will be fireworks! I hope that many of you are able to arrange your schedule to spend July 4th at the Village for a unique Independence Day Celebration!
Instructor Dawn Fisher of Morning Glory Needleworks is working away on her project for the Spooky Retreat to be held in Mystic, CT on October 26-27, 2012. I am very excited about the project and am dying to tell you more, but.... “All in due time, my pretties, all in due time....” Wha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!
 The Mystic 2011 retreat with Jeannette Douglas was SO MUCH FUN!! What a great project! I have heard from a couple stitchers who have already completed it and the results were stunning.
We had a Fall Theme for this retreat and as a part of it we had a Thanksgiving Dinner together! Mmmmm! And some even dressed in Thanksgiving outfits! LOL! I have some great pictures to share with you as soon as I finish up the Mystic Fun Report! Here’s one of Jeannette and I wearing lovely frog eye earring gifts!
Oh, I love all the holidays during this time of year! Thanksgiving was so pleasant and relaxing at our home -- and the turkey was AWESOME! My husband cooked the bird and handled the dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, while I made up other family favorite vegetable casseroles and breads. My sister-in-law Mary makes the most delicious pumpkin and pecan pies and she blessed us all with one of each.
I think I should share our yummy veggie casserole recipes with all of you. We serve them on both Thanksgiving and Christmas or hearts would be broken! LOL! See recipes here.
I so wanted to post a Thanksgiving greeting on my website but right at that time my computer became, well, possessed. I had to send it out to an exorcist to be worked on, and when I got it back several days later it was just a bit late for Thanksgiving. But if I could have sent you a message at that time, it would have been to tell you how very much I appreciate each and every one of those who I have had the pleasure of meeting at my retreats, who have enriched my life with their friendship, who have inspired me with their stitching, and who have shown me so many kindnesses over the years. I am blessed!
I also would sincerely like to thank, once again, the many designers and companies that have so generously donated items to the attendees this year: 123Stitch, Blue Ribbon Designs, Brightneedle, Calico Crossroads, Celebration of Needlework, Chris’s Collection, Elizabeth’s Designs, Freda’s Fancy Stitching, Giulia Punti Antichi, Glory Bee, JBW Designs, Jeannette Douglas Designs, Kreinik, Lavendar Wings, Morning Glory Needleworks, Nordic Needle, Olde Colonial Designs, Rosewood Manor, Sew Inspired Needlework Finishing, Stitchy Kitty, Tempting Tangles, The Gift of Stitching, The Prairie Schooler, ThreadworX, Trail Creek Farm,Victoria Sampler, Weeks Dye Works, With My Needle, and Karen Capello (a very special friend of Stitcher’s Hideaway). You are very much appreciated!
 There’s a lot of fun and preparation going on in the Donnelly household as Christmas approaches. The tree was put up the weekend after Thanksgiving and slowly it was decorated, along with much of our home, inside and outside! The tree stands in the middle of a large picture window for our neighbors to enjoy. It is always fun to go through the ornaments each year because so many hold special memories for Michael and me of trips we have taken and special people in our lives. Some dear ones are no longer with us but we hold their memory dear to our hearts and remember with joy the holidays we were able to share together.
There are quite a number of frogs on my tree! LOL!! Some new ones were gifts given to me at the Mystic retreat. We had a good laugh hanging them on the tree. Each year when we look over the assortment of odd decorations, we realize just how weird we are! LOL!! But among all the very different ornaments (gargoyles, frogs, dinosaurs...) are beautiful handmade ornaments given to me by friends that I treasure.
We also have a creche on display. My Mom was into ceramics for awhile and even had her own kiln. She made the figures, and my father made the manger.
And hanging by the chimney with care are stockings that I stitched for my husband and myself when we were first married.
 Yes, in our home we definitely celebrate Christmas. What that means to us is not just a gathering of friends and family with wonderful feasts, but a period of spiritual reflection leading up to a special church service on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas morning. I play piano and sing in a band at our church and we have been busy rehearsing some joyful Christmas music. Michael is singing with an a cappella group at some of the services, and will also be going caroling in our town. My 90-year-old Dad loves all the music and will enjoy these special services so very much.
Whatever your celebrations during this joyful season, we wish for you the very merriest and best!
Sue
November 9, 2011
Hello Stitchers!
I’m trying to catch up after losing power for 5 days from a freak October snow storm. My husband and I are starting to think we have a big target on our property after having our roof trashed by the winter snow, a tree through our roof and out the side of our house from Tropical Storm Irene, and now a huge amount of tree branches down from Storm Albert! It seriously looked like a war zone in my neighborhood after this most recent trashing. Slowly things are getting back to normal, although there is a tremendous amount of cleanup to do everywhere.
So today I was finally able to work on opening up registration for the Winter Escape Alumni Retreat! YAY!!! I’m already looking forward to it! This is a retreat for those who have already attended a Stitcher’s Hideaway retreat -- no instructor, no common project -- it’s just Stitchers Gone Wild for 2 full days and nights! Woo-hoo!!!
At last year’s Alumni Retreat it was suggested that Depends be included in the gift bags because of all the laughing! LOL!! And there was a bad girls table for some very naughty stitchers -- hehehehe. What great fun to look forward to as we approach the winter months!
The Mystic Retreat, which thankfully was held the weekend before our freak storm, was so wonderful. Jeannette Douglas did a great job as our instructor and her stitched model of the project was stunningly beautiful! We were all so impressed. We also received a kit of 3 smalls with great finishing supplies -- quite a treat! It was a great time and I’ll be working on a Fun Report to tell you all about it very soon.
As we approach the holidays, keep Stitcher’s Hideaway Gift Certificates in mind! You can treat a stitching buddy, OR....next time someone asks you what you’d like for your birthday or for holiday gifts, ask for a Stitcher’s Hideaway Gift Certificate to redeem toward retreat registration or for Stitcher’s Hideaway store items! Here’s a link to the Gift Certificates.
Happy Stitching, my friends!
Sue
October 1, 2011
I have just posted the Sturbridge Fun Report! I enjoyed reliving all the great memories as I worked on it. What a great retreat!
With that done I’ll be focusing all my efforts now on preparation for the Mystic Retreat! A bunch of enthusiastic stitchers are attending and we are in for FUN!! Already donations for door prizes and fun packs have arrived from Brightneedle, Elizabeth's Designs, The Gift of Stitching, Glory Bee, Giulia Punti Antichi, JBW Designs, Jeannette Douglas Designs, Kreinik, Lavender Wings, Morning Glory Needleworks, Nordic Needle, Rosewood Manor, Sew-Inspired Needlework Finishing, Stitchy Kitty, Tempting Tangles, ThreadworX, Trail Creek Farm, The Prairie Schooler, Victoria Sampler, Weeks Dye Works, and from Karen Capello, a friend of Stitcher’s Hideaway!
 Instructor Jeannette Douglas is looking forward to enjoying the New England Fall foliage once again! Fall is just beginning here, but by the time of the retreat we’re sure to have some great color.
I’ll always remember the first time she experienced our fall. We were driving around in the car and she wanted to stop at every red-leafed tree to take a picture -- until she realized that they were pretty much everywhere! LOL!! She loved our stone walls and all the American flags everywhere, too.
We have a Fall Theme for the Mystic retreat. Some of the participants are busily stitching away for a fall-theme ornament exchange! I know of at least one stitcher who already has most of her suitcase packed -- and it’s still 20 days away - Ha!!
I hope you all enjoy reading about our fun at the Sturbridge Retreat! I’ve posted a lot of pictures, thanks to the contributions of several attendees.
See you at a retreat!
Sue
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August 27, 2011
Here in Connecticut, as in many other states, we have been battening down the hatches in preparation of Hurricane Irene. Whatta time. I live in central Connecticut and am hoping we end up with just a tropical storm by the time it gets here, which can still mean quite a bit of trouble in the way of damaging winds and power outages. During Hurricane Gloria I was without power for 10 days! Not fun. But New Englanders, for the most part, already know what to do to prepare and we have done all we can in our house. Yesterday my Dad and I went to our cottage to secure it the best we could. We have concerns there about a large dying tree between our cottage and another, which we planned to have taken down later in the fall. Here’s hoping it doesn’t blow over! The cottage is on a high bank along the Connecticut River. We aren’t concerned about flooding there, but the wind can be crazy as it whips up the Connecticut River Valley.
So let me fill you in on the latest news! I have set the dates for Mystic 2012 -- a Spooky Retreat! It will be held on October 26-27, 2012. Dawn Fisher of Morning Glory Needleworks has dreamed up a great spooky project for us with lots of fun and surprises. She is still working on it so it will be some time before I post further information. In the meantime, mark your calendars!
I made a decision to cancel a second Mystic 2011 retreat as it just didn’t appear there would be enough attendees to meet the minimum needed. It seemed best to make the decision now so that instructor Jeannette Douglas and I could make our plans. I am shifting all who registered for Mystic 2 into Mystic 1 that are able to attend on those dates, so there will be quite a full house! October will be here before we know it and I’m sure looking forward to spending time with Jeannette and all the attendees! Woo-hoo!!
Jeannette has received “Four Seasons of Mystic” back from her very creative framer and has sent me a picture of it to share with you all!
We’ve been having a very nice summer, which seems to be flying by all too fast. We attended our annual Camp Meeting at Camp Bethel and have taken some day trips here and there. We’ve been able to run away for many weekends at our cottage. The Sturbridge Retreat in July was great fun! I also had a bumper crop of awesome basil and made loads of pesto and froze it. One of our favorite things is to top pizza crust with it then load on some tomatoes, whatever other veggies, and mozzarella cheese. Wicked good! With the hurricane coming, I’ve made another batch and picked all the tomatoes that were ripe. Here’s hoping those plants are still standing after the storm!
To all those in the path of Irene -- be safe! Be prepared! Hang in there and let me know after the storm how you’re doing!
See you at a retreat!
Sue
Read Sue’s Blog
July 19, 2011
This is just a quick message to give you a heads up that the dates for the Alumni 2012 Winter Escape Retreat have been changed to March 2-3, 2012. This is to allow superior stash enhancement! Because hey -- none of us have any stash!!! Hehehehehe. Chris from Chris’s Collection will be setting up shop for us at this retreat, and she will have just returned from a big needlework trade show and will arrive with new fresh-from-market stash! Woo-hoo! So change the dates on your calendars and start dreaming of FUN!
Sue
July 13, 2011
 The Sturbridge Retreat on July 7-8 with Thea Dueck was AWESOME!!! I wish every stitcher on the planet could have been there! Our project was even more fantastic then we imagined. Thea’s instruction was superb -- and our kits included DVDs of her showing us all the stitching techniques and how to do the finishing of our beautiful Sturbridge Sewing Boxes!
The lecture at the retreat by Bob Havens was all I had hoped for and much more! He brought along samples of his amazing tambour beading and told us great stories about his adventures in stitching.
I will be working on a fun report of our time together during the next couple of weeks and will let you know once it has been posted.
I have heard from some stitchers who sadly missed out on registering on time for the Mystic retreat. It was truly no surprise to me that the retreat filled up so quickly even without a photo of the retreat project. Those who know Jeannette know that she does not disappoint!
But now I have a photo of “Four Seasons of Mystic” -- the retreat project designed by Jeannette Douglas for the Mystic stitchers! Hop over to the Project page to see it and read all the details! Jeannette has surprised me by designing a set of 3 smalls to go along with this wonderful seasonal sampler!
I also have some 2012 Retreat information that I can share with you! The Alumni Retreat will be held on February 24-25, 2012 MARCH 2-3, 2012, and Ellen Chester of With My Needle will be teaching at the Sturbridge Retreat on July 5-6, 2012! Mark your calendars!
Happy Stitching Adventures to you all!
Sue
April 23, 2011
Hello Stitchers!
My husband was busy in the kitchen all morning making his fantastic Greek Easter Bread and the house is filled with the sweet scents of orange peel, cinnamon, allspice, and anise. Oh, YUM!!!!!
Michael makes this for us every Easter and we all look forward to it. He also runs a coffee fellowship at our church every Sunday morning and so he made some of it to serve there on Easter morning. The congregation eagerly awaits this treat!
Easter is pretty exciting in the Donnelly household. After the somber and reflective Good Friday service, we have the glorious Easter Morning Service to look forward to. We’ll be up early so that Michael can get the coffee station set up and so I can rehearse the music with a band (I play piano and sing alto). There will be wonderful celebratory music and the sanctuary will be bright and filled with Easter lillies. It is a very joyous occasion. Afterwards, we’ll have our traditional Easter meal with company. The smell of Michael’s Easter Bread is a teaser of good things to come!
 I spoke with Jeannette Douglas the other night and it sure made me miss seeing her in person! Fortunately for me, she’s coming all the way from Calgary, Canada to teach this October at the Mystic 2011 retreat! She is such a sweetie -- and I just love to hear her laugh. Our conversations are always peppered with giggling over one thing or another.
Jeannette has been one busy lady! Her teaching has now taken her from coast to coast across the North American continent, to England and to Holland, where she taught in Dutch.
She has taught at four Stitcher’s Hideaway retreats now, which tells you just how much she is loved by the retreat attendees.
Jeannette has come up with a great project for us, which is still in the designing and stitching stage. It will be a four panel design depicting the glorious New England seasons. She is calling it Four Seasons of Mystic.
I am planning a Fall Theme for this retreat, and attendees can participate in an optional fall related ornament exchange. That will be great fun!
My plan is to open registration for Mystic 2011 on Monday, May 2nd, by noon. An email will be sent to all those on the distribution list as soon as it has been posted. To be added to the list, send your request to Stitcher’s Hideaway.
What an exciting year already! The Alumni Retreat was FANTASTIC!! The Sturbridge Retreat coming up in July with Thea Dueck as instructor will be PHENOMENAL! And then we’ll have Jeannette Douglas in Mystic in October!! WOO-HOO!!!!
Have a wonderful weekend, stitchers!
Sue
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 April 14, 2011
Hello Stitchers!
Winter is finally over in Connecticut! YAY!!!!!! I’m seeing the beginnings of little buds on trees, the grass is starting to green-up, and our daffodils and tulips are working their way up, too. Finally! I thought our winter would never end!
I just returned from an all-too-brief trip to Florida to visit a long-time friend in the Orlando area. It was SO good to see her. We poked around Downtown Disney, went to a women’s expo, looked for a new apartment for her, ate at some nice restaurants, and lazed around and talked and talked and talked. The temperatures were in the mid-90’s as opposed to the mid-50’s we have in CT right now. I was in sandals and capris the whole time – so very nice. My toes were so happy!
My friend took me to a restaurant one night just so that I could try gator tail. I was hesitant, but I discovered I liked it! I thought it tasted like scallops, which surprised me. I thought there would be a meatier taste and consistency to something like an alligator, but no – it was more like scallops to me.
So now I’m back home and getting ready for the upcoming Sturbridge Retreat with Thea Dueck of The Victoria Sampler. I am looking forward to this SO much! The project she designed for this retreat is so perfect – the Sturbridge Sewing Box, inspired by Old Sturbridge Village. The project will include the finishing materials and full video of finishing instructions to take home – a finishing tutorial at our fingertips!! Thea doesn’t plan to publish this wonderful design as a leaflet by Victoria Sampler, but might one day teach it online as a webcast. All I can say is, don’t miss out on this wonderful project!
It’s so nice to work in a retreat during vacation time, and the Sturbridge area is a great place for a vacation. Some attendees are bringing along friends and family to enjoy it with them before or after the retreat. Just 2 miles away, the Old Sturbridge Village is definitely a favorite attraction. It is a 200 acre outdoor history museum offering a journey through time to a rural New England town of the 1830s. There are more than 40 original buildings, each carefully researched, restored, and brought to the museum site from towns throughout New England. These include homes, meetinghouses, a district school, country store, bank, law office, printing office, carding mill, sawmill, gristmill, pottery, blacksmith shop, shoe shop, and cooper shop. Authentically costumed staff carry out the daily activities of an early 19th-century community, and you can ask them questions about what they are doing.
The last time Thea and I were there, we saw women making dyes from various plants and then dying wool that they had spun themselves. We had fun asking them about the process – and about their own clothing! We spent time enjoying an herb garden, and found some great books in their store. All in all, it’s a very relaxing and interesting way to spend a lazy summer day. I hope many of you will be able to spend some time there.
Thea relaxing in the herb garden at Old Sturbridge Village.
So let’s see. In other news, The Needlework Show is going on right now through April 19. This is an entirely on-line event where you can view the latest needlework designs of about 100 different designers! Select “General Viewing” on the top right of the home page to see links to the different designers. If you see something you’d like to have, you can have your local needlework shop order it for you. In fact, they have a link to “Retail Shops” so that you can see who you can order the designs from. I always enjoy poking through all the designs – from the comfort of my home – in my jammies (hehehe).
In just another couple of weeks I’m leaving for the Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH with my pal Deb! This is an annual trip for us that we look forward to so much. There is a wide selection of classes that you can take, hundreds of stitchers hanging out, and there is also a big vendor show – wheeeeeeeeee!!! And I know that I’ll be seeing some of you there – yay!
Well, my stitching friends – here’s to warmer weather and many spring and summer stitching adventures!
Sue
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March 17, 2011
 Yay! I just posted the Fun Report for the 2011 Winter Escape Alumni Retreat! I hope that you will enjoy the pictures of our time together!
At each retreat I collect toiletries for a local shelter. The Alumni Stitchers brought in quite a bit! Some brought in their hotel toiletries each day since they had their own with them. It all added up to 2 grocery bags full! I have everything sorted and ready to deliver to the shelter now. They are always so grateful for the donations. This is such a simple thing that we can do to help make life a little easier for others. Read about the Shelter Project. Perhaps you have a shelter in your area that could use help like this.
And now....as soon as I get my taxes done (yukky!)....I’ll be focusing on the Sturbridge 2011 Retreat. Now that is something to look forward to! Thea Dueck of The Victoria Sampler will be the instructor and she has designed such a perfect keepsake for our retreat project. Her Sturbridge Sewing Box is so beautiful. I just can’t wait to get my hands on it!
I’m also really looking forward to meeting Bob Haven. He will be our guest lecturer at the Sturbridge Retreat. If you haven’t read about him, hop to his link and then look at the links on there. The man is amazing! We are in for a real treat!
I hope you’ll stop by and visit my Blog. I’ve updated it a couple times recently and hope to keep that up on a regular basis. I posted some of my stitching and some finds from an antique store.
Happy Stitching Adventures to you!
Sue
March 1, 2011
What a blast we had at the Annual Stitcher’s Hideaway Winter Escape Alumni Retreat! It was so much fun to see everyone and to stitch together...and eat together...and shop together...and laugh hysterically together! And wow -- the Show ‘n Tell we had!
There were some unusual frog sightings!
I’m gathering photos and working on a Fun Report to share our great time with everyone. I have some interesting pictures -- hehehehe.
We had wonderful fun pack and doorprize donations! They came from Blue Ribbon Designs, Brightneedle, Calico Crossroads, Celebration of Needlework, Chris’s Collection, Elizabeth’s Designs, Giulia Punti Antichi, Jeannette Douglas Designs, Lavendar Wings, Morning Glory Needleworks, Nordic Needle, Rosewood Manor, Sew Inspired Needlework Finishing, Stitchy Kitty, Tempting Tangles, The Prairie Schooler, Trail Creek Farm, Victoria Sampler, Weeks Dye Works, With My Needle, Karen Capello (a friend of Stitcher’s Hideaway), and Stitcher’s Hideaway (of course!). Thank you, thank you, donors!
 Now let’s talk about the next fantastic retreat -- the Sturbridge Stitcher’s Hideaway with Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler!! Just last night Thea sent me the complete project photos. Wow -- the Sturbridge Sewing Box is gorgeous!! I’m so excited about it!! It’s a perfect keepsake of our time together in Sturbridge! Here’s a quick picture, but go to the Sturbridge Project link to see more!
I have heard from Jeannette Douglas of Jeannette Douglas Designs, instructor for the October Mystic Retreat, and she has been busy designing something very special for us! I’ve now seen a preliminary draft and am very pleased. I will be sending an email as soon as I can open registration for this fun event. If you aren’t yet on the mailing list, just contact me and ask to be added to the distribution list.
Like many areas of the country, we had record snowfalls in Connecticut. It seriously got up to almost 5’ deep at my home in central Connecticut. I just couldn’t believe it. It kept coming, and coming and piling up and piling up! It was so heavy on our roof that we actually had a rafter split in our roof and had to call in for some emergency help to brace it and to remove the 2.5 to 3’ of snow on our roof. Fortunately, our home insurance will cover the repairs that must be done in the spring.
I really got weary of looking at all the snow in my yard, so finally did something to cheer myself up!
Did you know that I now have a blog? Yup. I’ve only recently started it, but hope to add to it on a regular basis (between retreats, that is!). I thought it would be fun to have a place to write about other happenings in my life. There’s a link to “Sue’s Blog” on the top left of this page. I would love to know if you also have a blog! Please email me and let me know if you do.
Stitcher’s Hideaway has a Fan Page on Facebook, so stop by for some more fun. The Facebook link is at the top left of this page.
We have some very exciting retreats coming up to look forward to this year -- and I’ve already been working on great plans for 2012 -- woo-hoo!! Stay tuned for News Flashes!
See you at a retreat soon!
Sue
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