On Our Way Home . . .

Remember the Beatles song The Two of Us?

Two of us riding nowhere
Spending someone's
Hard earned pay
You and me Sunday Friday driving
Not arriving
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

Well, this story is sort of like that!

Coming home from Reno, we opted to take a couple back road highways that would eventually lead us to the OTHER side of Sacramento so we could stop and visit a friend in Folsom who had surgery a couple days before. Luckily the route took us right by one of my favorite Nevada quilt shops, The Quilt House! (Isn't it funny how that worked out?!)

I don't know why I didn't take a photo of the outside of the shop, but it's in a small shopping strip right on Highway 395 in Gardnerville. If you're ever anywhere near Lake Tahoe or Reno, plan to stop by the shop--it's well worth whatever detour you make to include it in your travels.

From the outside, the building doesn't look tall, but inside, the ceilings soar and the space is somewhat industrial looking, although it doesn't feel that way. One of the particular geniuses of the owners is their ability to display the shop's wares in warm, fun, and imaginative ways. The high ceilings also give them plenty of space to showcase quilts high up on the walls. The Quilt House is pretty well known in the quilting community for always having several interesting quilt kits in stock at any given time, and Lake Tahoe quilt retreaters often make a mid-week run to The Quilt House to add a kit to their week's projects.

Take a look at this photo:

Once you mentally remove the fabric, what do you see? Hubby was amazed to realize there was a HUGE sled in the shop! The story is that the sled originally belonged to the grandfather of one of the owners and was brought from the family's Minnesota farm. Wonderful, isn't it?

The part of the Beatles song that talks about spending someone's hard earned pay? Well, I'm afraid on this trip, it was my own hard earned pay I spent! I really loved the raw edged rose applique quilt you can see in the center of the wall below, and they had kits in several fabric lines. In fact, I carried one of those kits around the shop with me for quite awhile before convincing myself I had plenty of stash fabric at home I could use instead.

I actually did okay as far as restraining myself went--considering, of course, how much temptation surrounded me. I ended up checking out with a few patterns and notions and a couple pieces of fabric, and the grand total was under $100. [And, by the way, the shop owner assured me they don't announce the purchase total in front of spouses--YES!]

As I was carrying my purchases toward the door, I asked Hubby whether any of the many quilts on display particularly appealed to him. The funny thing was, he led me to a separate room and pointed out a quilt hanging on the wall. And can you believe it was the same pattern I'd been seriously considering buying when my stitchery friends and I went on our last little shop hop? Kismet, right? That's what I thought too! So while Hubby took my purchases out to the car, I grabbed the other quilt pattern and headed back to the register. On the way there, I found another pattern I'd missed the first time. Isn't that always the way it goes? And then, while I was standing in line, the quilter in front of me was buying the very same raw edge rose applique quilt I'd been coveting. BUT I didn't buy it. Nope! Since I'd already decided to be strong and resist, I gave in and bought the OTHER kit she was buying. Can I help it if the lady had good taste?

Totally HER fault, right? At least that's what I told Hubby. And although The Quilt House cost me a lot more money in the end than the casino did, I ended up with a lot more to show for the time I spent there!