On the Road: Empty Spools 2016, Part 2

Another year at Empty Spools is over for me. The second session ended just two days ago. Now I’m home, having traveled about as far across the continental United States as it is possible to travel: Pacific Grove, CA to Harpswell, ME. Pacific coast back to Atlantic coast.

In last week’s blog I covered the first session, so here’s the followup to complete the set for 2016.

group — Empty Spools 2016, Session 2 students, and me (missing two who had to leave early).

Teaching twenty students at a time is always a challenge. This session I had the added pressure of having two respected and popular quilting teachers take my class: Jan Krentz and Mary Lou Weidman. Nothing like having your colleagues watching every move you make! No, really, they gave me no trouble at all and were very gracious.

Well, there was some silliness. I guess every class has their own personality….

The lovely Jan Krentz, donning the glasses and eyes borrowed from Elaine Swatniki’s granddaughter and the laughing mouth from her own daughter’s portrait.

Intent and hard at work, surrounded by piles of fabric and drifts of creative mess.

Once again the class made wonderful progress on their quilts. The slideshow below displays their work, with early versions first followed by more complete ones. I may have worked my students too hard, they got a little punchy toward the end and decided that the titles of their pieces needed to end with “Carlson.” As one visitor noticed, I have a few more members of my family now. I don’t mind at all.

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The Asilomar conference grounds and surrounding area are so beautiful I can’t help but take a few (e.g. hundreds) of photos. Lucky for you I edited them down to a couple (well, maybe three) dozen. They also include my venture into Monterey, home of Steinbeck’s Cannery Row (often my travel read when I visit the area), and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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And to add a little ambiance to the blog experience: