The Gathering House in Odessa, Washington

Our quilt community is all but complete, here in Odessa, now, with the addition of "The Gathering House" quilt retreat.  Located at 4 West 5th Avenue, it is designed for small group retreats, quilt show weekends, quilters, scrap bookers, beaders, crafters, knitters and others who want to gather and spend time together. 

 The house is completely furnished with plenty of work space to accommodate up to 10 people. 

Utility area includes a cutting, ironing area and a washer and dryer.  All the amenities of home.

 The house includes four bedrooms, two upstairs and two in the basement.
This room is called "In the Garden"

This room is called "For the Birds"

This room is called "By the Sea"

This room is called "Cabin in the Woods"

The family kitchen is fully equipped with seating for 10.  

Work tables, irons and ironing boards are provided.  You need bring only your sewing machines and materials for your projects.

For rates, details and pricing, please contact Jan Hinton

The Gathering House Retreats

4 West 5th Ave.

PO Box 383

Odessa, WA  99159

425-879-5631

tghretreats@hotmail.com

You may already know that we have a very active quilt community here, especially for such a small town as ours (950 people give or take a few).  We have had a full-spectrum quilt shop, The Quilt Crossing, for many years; a full-functioning quilt guild, Fronen Steppdecker, or the Odessa Quilt Club. 

 Each April we hang at least 250 quilts in our annual show repleat with classes, vendors, a "Quilt Walk" and wonderful prizes.  Each March, we "Quilt Til You Wilt", a full, 24 hours of quilting( if you like), in one of our huge local churches, Heritage.  Additional quilt shops are located in nearby communities such as Ritzville, Ephrata, Moses Lake and Reardan (The Buggy Barn is just 45 minutes away).  

Some Quilts from the 2012 Odessa Quilt Show

Odessa is a great community with full services (airport, hospital, police, fire, museum, restaurants, motel, RV facilities, golf, grocery, pharmacy, swimming pool, micro brewery, tennis, sausage factory, motorcycle events,  etc.)   

Odessa features a spectacular landscape, trails and natural wonders, situated on the longest year-round creek in North America, Crab Creek.  

Our special museum tells the story and displays the relics of this historic area.  

We are located, as we say, 35 miles from everywhere, literally.  Between I-90, to the south, and Highway 2, to the north, and where State Highways 21 and 28 intersect, it's a great place to retreat to, on any occasion!

Dry Falls, about 45 miles northwest of Odessa where the waters once flowed washing out a basalt canyon which opens to the south at Soap Lake.

 Dry Falls, looking straight east from the viewpoint on State Highway 17 just north of Sun Lakes State Park.

 Dry Falls, looking southeast from the view point.

Dry Falls, looking northeast; Coulee City on the horizon.

The Odessa area is nearly always sunny with little humidity and good weather almost all the time in any season.  

Our annual fun time is Deutschesfest, the third weekend of September each year.  This is when we roll out the community.  

The high school ball fields become a giant RV park, as well as almost all other free space in the town, including camping in the city park. 

 Deutschesfest features food booths (kraut ranza, reubens, German sausages, cabbage rolls, apple struedel) and lots of activities including German music, a beer garden, parade, bed races, carnival, museum tours, The Sausage Bowl (football), antique quilt show, yard sales, etc.

A Couple of Quilts from the 2012 Antique Quilts Show

(Details to come in the next little bit)