Two Wacky Women Quilt Retreat

I recently had the pleasure of attending a quilt retreat, hosted by Two Wacky Women.  They hold a variety of quilt retreats, primarily in Southern California, throughout the year.  Some of these retreats have teachers, whereas some are structured for everyone to work on their own projects.  Their retreats sell out quickly, as they also have a number of participants who have been a regular for many years, and everyone that comes ha such a great time.

Marilyn Pond and Robin Gallagher are the masterminds for Two Wacky Women.  They are two talented woman who love to quilt, and are excellent hosts.  They are also willing to travel and help guilds, quilt stores and others host retreats in their area. 

The retreat I attended focused on free-motion quilting, which I will share insights about in the near future.  Today I want to focus on the retreats hosted Two Wacky Women.  Before I share specifics, I want to clarify that I look at a quilt retreat based on how well organized it is, the space provided to each participant for their work area, general room setup, food & beverages, fun, and overall value.  Two Wacky Woman deserves a five star, in all areas I evaluate a quilt retreat on!

The retreat I attended was held at the Ayres Hotel & Suites in Laguna Woods, which provided a bright and spacious room for us to sew.  Table space was adequate, with plenty of power cords & extension cords, all setup and ready for us to sew when we arrived.  There were plenty of stations provided for ironing and cutting fabrics, with never a waiting line.  Hotel rooms and service was also excellent!

Every person was given a very nice canvas tote bag, that was embellished with the logo of the retreat and full of goodies.  So full of goodies that I can't list everything, but highlights are:  fabric kit with pattern to make a cute notebook cover (included notbook), very cute handmade mini-tissue holder that has a surprise pocket, lint roller, sewers aid, charm and charm pin, ruler, pencil & notebook, etc.

Marilyn and Robin also had several prize drawings of some wonderful prizes (e.g. OttLite, etc.).

We were also treated to some yummy homemade baked goods, as well as an endless supply of chocolate quilting pills.  Meals and snacks were yummy.  It was also fun to have a wine & snacks beverage time in the evening, to be able to socialize with everyone. 

Many of the participants were from Southern California, but several had come from out of state.  As this retreat is near the Los Angeles airport, as well as Orange County airport, it is also an excellent retreat for those that want to have a fun quilting retreat, but also come have fun in Southern California!  And if you are not able to bring your sewing machine, I'm sure Robin & Marilyn will be able to get you one to rent at a reasonable price too.

There was quite a bit of sharing and I enjoyed seeing quilt tops that Marilyn and Robin made using the jelly Roll Race techique.

Vicki and Marci, two sisters attending this retreat, would periodically take a break from quilting and practice playing the ukulele.  While they are new to learning these instruments, and quite shy about playing in front of a group, we were able to talk them into entertaining us in the evening (little did they know that they'd soon have their debut here on SewCalGal).  They sang and played a varety of songs from Elvis (one of my personal favorites, to Israel (famous entertainer from Hawaii who is now an Angel up above), and many others.  And, they even wrote a cute song just for this retreat:



I can certainly understand why Two Wacky Women were nominated to the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards. 
They do a fantastic job hosting wonderful quilt retreats, at an excellent value.

Two Wacky Women have several fun quilt retreats scheduled for 2011.  I hope you will have a chance to attend one of their retreats in 2011, or further down the road.  I do think you'll enjoy it.  Definitely one of my favorite retreats ever!   And I'm already looking forward to my next retreat with Two Wacky Women.  I just hope you will be able to join me.



http://www.twowackywomen.com/retreats.html