Sew Beachy Part 1

I was invited to a quilt retreat in Ventura Beach, California. 

 I gave this a lot of thought as not only did I need to pay for the retreat, 

but had to come up with a way to afford the airfare.  

It's not always easy on one salary, but we figured it out and I booked the trip.  

Mind you, I had only met one of the folks that would be going, of the 25 invited, YIKES!  

I knew *some* of them from Instagram.  

The ones I knew I really liked so I decided to do it.  

Fun and scary all at the same time.  

I wanted to fly out a bit early and that's where my friend Ana came in.  

My FIRL, Traci, was flying in from WI and was renting a car.  

I flew in to LA at night and she picked me up.  

We drove to Ana's and spent the night before heading to Ventura Beach and the retreat. 

 It is a little terrifying to fly with your sewing machine though.  

We headed out on Friday morning and drove down Hollywood Blvd.  

Traci had lived in CA for a few years and knew how to get around the city, which was fantastic.  (Thanks again, Traci, for being the driver!).  

She showed me some of the famous things before we headed out to LAX to pick up another person, Paula, flying in from Kansas City.

I saw the Hollywood sign.

Corner of Hollywood and Vine

Capitol Records

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Mann's Chinese Theater

Once we picked up Paula we headed to a quilt shop called Sew Together.  

The trees outside were yarn bombed!

 It was a cute little shop with LOADS of modern fabrics.  Decisions, decisions!

We drove by the Getty Villa

Made a stop so Traci could rest (a little kitchy place Traci wanted to stop at)

Then it was time to stop for lunch.  Ollie's Duck and Dive.  

This is Traci and I enjoying our lunch with Paula.  

Traci is the only person I actually knew before going to the retreat and we had only met once.

When we arrived at the retreat house (Saylor's Sandcastle) and 

looked into the garage, this is what we saw.  

All 25 of us would be sewing in here and those windows?  They look right on to the beach!

Our table consisted of me, Traci, Paula and Melanie (not here yet).

We had the most beautiful sunsets each night.  This was the first one.

I met some amazing women.  Left to right, Susan, Pam (applique teacher and Susan's sister), 

Jamie (our wallet instructor, Made By Jamie) and Darla (our hostess).  

These women are epic!  

I am so glad I got to know them in real life.  I'm pretty certain I will be life long friends with them!

I loved that there were three Pam's at the retreat!  

This Pam and I became fast friends!  Everyone was so nice.  

I have lots more to share but this is already pretty long so more tomorrow.

~XOP~