Dyeing to Stitch Retreat ...Awesome

I have finally downloaded the pics!!  I must say that I have only been to 3 retreats and Celebrations of Needlework and I can say that we were SPOILED at this retreat.  Anne and Pat made every effort to make sure the event was a success and there were bumps in the road--trust me.  We started our adventure quite early in the morning with 2 needlework shop destinations but traffic curtailed one of our stops.  The stop we did make was at In Stitches in Alexandria, VA.  What a fabulous shop!  Lots of fibers, fabrics, and charts . . . charts. . . charts. 

Here is a pic of my stash!  So very happy with the Lakeside Linen collection.  Every color and count you can think of.  It happens to be a personal favorite so I indulged.  I also go a European chart for a beautiful quaker motif table runner.  It's a big one but I hope to start on it soon.

The following day led us to Dyeing to Stitch.  A smaller sized shop with lots of eye candy.  The models were to die for.  I wanted everything but held back a bit because of our venture to the previous shop and the fact that the hotel would have a shopping boutique.  I did pick up a Blackbird Design from one of their previous retreats.  A seaside motif stocking set.  We made it to the hotel and had a small hiccup with accommodations which took a bit to sort out but once we did were quite comfortable.  We headed to the meet and greet and project preview.  They gifted us with a sweet "Celebrate" pin cushion kit taught by Sharon of The Purple Thread.  We had classes with  Paulette of Plum Street Samplers and Jeannette Douglass of Jeannette Douglass Designs.  They presented us with 2 projects each.

 At the stitch with Friends night we were presented with and exclusive design stitched by all of the instructors present at the retreat. 

Then we had another design presented by Stacy Nash.  A wonderful thread keep.  Have you been able to keep count?  That is 7 new projects!!  Oh my!  I loved them all and have intentions to stitch them all.  If that wasn't enough, the banquet was loads of fun.  It was a costume party and yes I am a party pooper and didn't dress up but so many people did and we were in "stitches" with laughter.  There were doors prizes and I was lucky enough to win a fabric covered journal/sketchbook.  The parting gift was a beautiful hand painted box to commemorate the event.  I have plans to keep my stitched needlebook from the retreat and other sewing necessaties in it.  

Sorry for the long post!  I hope you enjoyed this review and I will leave you with a picture of the sunrise that greeted us each morning! Oh didn't I tell you the hotel was right on the beach and the temps were in the 80's the whole time.  How can you not enjoy that!

Happy Stitching and thanks for stopping by.