Quilt & Scrapbooking Retreats At The Thornton House
Carefree whole house Quilt Retreats at the Thornton House offer more relaxing time in a grand house with great food and fellow quilters who share the same love of quilting. Best of all, you only need to gather 8 friends (you will only need to gather 5 friends during winter season to get the whole house) AND you can quilt from Friday to Sunday at 6pm with no extra charge for an early check-in and late check-out!
Cost: $165/person for 3 days/2nights, with a full breakfast and full dinner with dessert (minimum of 8 summer & fall, 5 in winter). Add an extra day for $40 (arrive Thursday with breakfast the next morning).
How to get started: Gather at least 8 of your friends and call us at 563-538-3373 and we'll take care of the rest!
You haven't heard? we go all out for dinner! In fact, in his previous life long, long ago Steve was an experienced chef so be prepared for a meals like this: (a sample representative menu from an actual retreat is below):
Friday:
Early check in, get settled, set up and get ready for dinner in the dining room with cocktails.
Warm up with a Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned 'sour' .. then start dinner
with Emmentaler cheese fondue with crusty Artisan fresh baked bread. Also
serving:
-Field greens with champagne shallot vinaigrette dressing.
-Fresh asparagus will also be served with orange hollandaise sauce.
-Charcoal grilled blackened chicken breast (chef suggests to try the orange
hollandaise sauce with the chicken!)
-Oven baked battered coconut shrimp with special dipping sauces.
-Sweet potato mash will also be served.
-Fresh baked onion rolls
For dessert, a chocolate fondue with angel food cake and fresh strawberries.
-Saturday:
Breakfast: Good morning! enjoy a glass of Premium Orange Juice, or a cup of coffee or enjoy a cup of tea from our collection along with fresh baked biscuits with home made Holiday jam or Apple jam (also available at the jam shop). The main course is Buttermilk Pancakes with sausages and real maple syrup. Additionally, Wisconsin cheesy scrambled eggs will also be served. Fresh Fruit.
Late afternoon coffee is available for weary retreaters to give you a boost into the evening!
Dinner: Kick off dinner with a little punch! Also serving:
-Cream of vegetable soup
-Field green salad with blue cheese dressing
-Garlic mashed red potatoes
-Hot roast beef
-Roasted turkey breast with a cranberry sage stuffing
-Cole slaw
For Dessert:
Delightfully festive chocolate almond drop cookies
-Sunday:
Good morning! enjoy a glass of orange juice, or a cup of coffee or enjoy
a cup of tea from our collection along with a fresh baked pastry.
The main course is Amish woodfire baked raisin bread french toast with bacon,
sausages, real maple syrup and 2 types of fresh fruit and/or yogurt.
As you can see, this is a special type of quilt retreat designed to pamper you while you have fun socializing and quilting with your friends. We want you to have a great time and we look forward to your return!
In a true Bed and Breakfast style, we make our collection of teas from the Republic of Tea, homemade double rich cocoa and orange juice available for guests anytime during the day or night!
Amenities: common area rooms, large workroom (see pictures below), common area/living room, huge veranda overlooking Lansing below and the bluffs beyond with seating for six, front deck with seating for four, 3 full bathrooms with hairdryers, bathroom amenity basket (soaps & shampoos), wireless internet, extended cable TV, TV's with DVD players in each room and seating in each room.
Workspaces: We have 2 rooms for crafting, the first room is our dedicated crafting room shown below and can accommodate at least 8 with four 4x6 tables and contoured chairs (with access to power plugs) set up in addition to 4 bright task lighting lamps and outlets with very bright light from above. Additionally, this room has two extra 4'x6' countertops for cutting etc. and a large design board on the wall to accommodate quilt layouts. We also have 2 irons and ironing tables for you to use. This crafting room also has a tv and cd player available.
Our second room is our 'Common Area' and can additionally accommodate at least two 4x6' tables with seating, outlets and lighting. There is an additional couch and 3 club chairs around the work area/tables for handwork and socializing.
The dedicated craft room is pictured below-
Rooms: 5 comfortable queen sized bedrooms will accommodate up to 10 (double occupancy).
Deposit: One day, remainder upon arrival.
Friday check-in through Sunday (late 6 pm checkout on Sunday) Pricing Structure (7% tax not included):
Minimum of 8 people to a maximum of 10 people (double occupancy) $165(plus 7% tax) per person
Other arrangements can be made to customize your quilt retreat- just call
us!
A Bit About Our Town
One of the best things is our central location: Thornton House is within easy walking distance (5 minutes) to Main St. quilt shops as well as other stores and restaurants. If you like to hike or enjoy walking you will also find Mt. Hosmer at your doorstep with panoramic vistas over the Mississippi (you can drive to this as well as walk).
Lansing is an idyllic small town with a circa 1900's Main St. full of charm and with many things to do. Simply walking downtown will give you a feel for our rich history as a River town. In your walk, you will notice Lansing also has many stone buildings which are remarkable in their design and old-world craftsmanship. If you have time, and weather permitting, another good short walk brings you down to the Mississippi River where you can find a bench and watch 'The River' which is alive with fisherman and pleasureboaters in the summertime! In the old days and at the end of Main St. large steamboats would dock and carry passengers to points north and south. In those days, 'The River' was truly America's highway.
Lansing is located on the Mississippi River which is part of the vast protected Mississippi Wildlife Refuge where eagles and many other birds are seen on a regular basis as well as birds on their traditional migratory route south for the winter. The thousands of tundra swans seen here heading south during November is truly a remarkable sight you won't soon forget. Our topography is steep hills/mini mountains that reach over 800 feet high. The land is heavily forested and full of wildlife with many trout streams and state protected lands. Our location is also convenient as Lansing has a bridge from the Iowa side to the Wisconsin side which makes getting here from anywhere a breeze!
