Last week Suzanne Pederson, the founder and heart of the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat, sent out an email that was not surprising, but still sad. 2019 Madrona will the be the last.
Suzanne is retiring after 20 years of delighting the fiber world. Madrona stands head and shoulders above other fiber retreats. It started small, but grew into a large and boisterous retreat, educating, raising money for charities, and just being an excellent coming together of fiber minds. It is one of the most inclusive and friendly retreats I’ve attended, no one is a stranger.
Madrona was the first big retreat that I knew of to combine crafts. Knitting was it’s core, but there were many spinning,weaving and dyeing classes too. Madrona was also the first big retreat to treat their teachers very well. It has an epic marketplace.
I was lucky enough to go to Madrona three times, once as a student and twice as a teacher.
In 2012 I went as a student with Sasha of Sheepspot, she was doing the SpinDoctor podcast then. We recorded an episode there, that really gives the feeling of the excitement that Madrona whipped up in us.
I’ll never forget the email Suzanne sent me to ask if I would teach, I still have it saved. For fiber teachers, Madrona, was a BIG ONE, getting asked to teach, especially as a spinning teacher was a huge moment for me. There was cheering, all the nerves and maybe a tear or two. I taught there in 2016 and 2017.
Madrona changed the way I thought about making and teaching, gave me new friends, a clear focus and a love for the PNW and the way fiber is revered there. It really has a different fiber vibe than the rest of the country.
Madrona is one of a kind and will be missed; here’s the announcement from Suzanne.
