Pre-Retreat Retreat Part 1

Last year I signed up for my annual Cindy Needham fix, a retreat that she is now holding at the Mercy Retreat Center in Auburn CA.  My previous "fixes" have been in Rancho Cordova, so this was a new experience for me. 

The retreat was July 9-12 but through a fortuitous introduction made by a San Diego friend, Darlene, I got to come up to northern California a couple of days early for what I am going to call a pre-retreat retreat.  Darlene introduced me to Beth Nidzieko, who owns a beautiful home in Truckee CA that she makes available to quilting groups.  It's called "Sierra Stars Quilting Vacations" and is so welcoming and well-equiped for quilters!

I decided to drive up the eastern sierras route rather than straight up the heart of California on the 5, so my route took me up the 395 to Carson City and then around Lake Tahoe to Truckee.  Here are a couple of pictures I took of Mono Lake on the 395.

I didn't really think the route through before I left or I would have departed my house earlier so that I could stop at the Quilt House in Gardnerville NV, one of my favorite places to leave $ and add more fabric to my already overwhelming stash.  Someone told me her stash was STABLE, meaning Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy -- I think that could apply to me as well!

This is one of the quilts that are on the walls and beds of this wonderful house!

A couple of shots off the deck so you can see the great mountain scenery -- so peaceful and Beth and I were able to take an hour hike one morning to enjoy the scenery even more.

A pic of the sewing area: at the left is a huge (50" x 90") table which is padded so that you can iron on the whole think if you want, there are lots of cutting mats and a couple of irons, including a cordless Rowenta.  Also just about every ruler known to man; reading the rulers list convinced me that even though I was doing piecing for the two days, all I needed to bring was my rotary cutter because Beth already had the room equipped with every ruler I could possible need as well as the mats.

The house sleeps 8 and is set up for 6 quilters to each have a 5' work table, an OttLite and power strip, as well as really comfortable adjustable office type chairs.  There are several chair styles, so if you have a fave you could always duke it out with your housemates to see who gets to sit in what.

Some of the work that I did:  I was piecing a bunch of Christmas fabric leftovers together for the back of a quilt I recently pieced.  Beth asked me if it didn't take a whole lot more time to do it this way -- yes, she's absolutely right, it takes forever, but I love the look when I'm done.



Lots more leftovers that I can use for the back of this quilt; I need it to measure about 93" square, so that's a lot of fabric...