My Carson Valley Adventure

Over the years I’ve found quilters everywhere to be warm, welcoming and wonderful ~ and the group I visited last week in Gardnerville, Nevada were especially delightful! What an adventure! This was the view from my hotel window on Saturday morning (quite different from Watertown 😊):

How did this come about? Well, Amy took my Seminole Sampler class in Paducah in 2024. When she and her friend Louise took on the Program chair positions at the Carson Valley Quilt Guild, Amy decided to invite me to be their September speaker. She is incredibly organized and puts her all into everything she does. She said she’s used some of the techniques from that class in recent quilts, and even put her class samples together into a top to advertise my workshop. Wow!

I usually make kits for that 3 hour long class so the students can make many sample borders, without taking up class time cutting strips. Amy asked if we could make it a 6 hour class, add a few different borders, have the students cut their own kits ahead of time, and (here’s the amazing part!!!) she volunteered to make kits for the students who didn’t want to make their own kits! How could I refuse?!? I put together cutting instructions and she and Louise made many of the kits out of their own stashes. WOW again! My kits are usually in the teal/lime/white range, but the samples in this workshop were all different – and the variety added to the fun!

As an interesting aside ~ prior to class Karen told me that she had taken my classes at WCTC when she lived in Wisconsin. She emailed me a while back to say she wanted to finish one of those class quilts, but she couldn’t find the instructions. I sent them to her and was so thrilled that she brought it to class for me to see. What a blast from the past! She said she enjoyed learning all the different methods of appliqué, and even hand quilted it!

Well done Karen! And a good reminder not to fret over having UFOs. Their time may come.

Karen was one of 24 quilters in the Seminole Sampler class, and as it neared it’s end I couldn’t resist having everyone line up with their favorite strip.

The really exciting part for me as a teacher was when many of the students brought them to Monday night’s lecture ~ and some of them were already sewn together into samplers!

WooHoo!

On Sunday I taught Architectural Repliqué. It’s a slower paced class with a lot of individual attention, and everyone did great.

Some of the “house” blocks made it to show and tell too!

On Monday Amy and Melissa had a happy adventure planned since my lecture wasn’t until 6pm. We drove through the mountains to Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful! First we stopped for a yummy breakfast at the Gateway Cafe.

And then we had a lovely ride along the lake. From the mountains in the background to the turquoise waters near the shore ~ it was breathtaking.

I thought you might enjoy learning a few facts about Lake Tahoe. It is the largest Alpine Lake in North America, and the second largest Alpine Lake in the world! It’s the second deepest lake in the US, with the deepest spot at 1645 feet deep. It contains 39 trillion gallons of water, is 99.94% pure, and the heat stored in it’s massive body of water compared to its relative surface area keeps it from ever freezing. Fascinating! We ended our trip with soup and ice cream at a small shop across the street from the State Capitol building in Carson City, and that night I was able to share my Quilt Tales lecture with the entire guild.

I’m so grateful that God has given me the gift of quilting. It’s taken me to so many wonderful places, allowed me to make friends around the world, and filled my life with joy! Thank you Amy, Louise, Melissa, and everyone at the Carson Valley Quilt Guild!

In closing I think you’ll enjoy this Nevada sunset. Beautiful!