It was my second week teaching for Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar State Park Conference Grounds on the Monterey Peninsula in California, and the cycle of rain and clouds broke with a double rainbow over the Maine Lodge. In last week’s blog post (On the Road: Empty Spools, March 2018, Week 1 of 2), I shared photos from this awesome location. My morning walks with friends along the beach dune boardwalk and paths were re-vitalized knowing we wouldn’t get caught in a downpour—and we were treated to sea otters bobbing in the kelp forests and morning sunshine hitting sea spray on the crests of the storm-driven waves as the wet weather moved out of the area.
Plus, a fresh batch of eager students awaited in my classroom!
Classroom Video Walkthrough
What can I say? These ladies arrived with a desire to dig in and work hard on their projects. There were fewer pets and more portraits than the previous session, and a nice variety of creatures overall. This time around I remembered to take a walkthrough video—taken on day four as my students were well into their workweek. Though through operator error, I hit the wrong button and sadly didn’t record six of the impressive works. You can, however, see all of them in the in-progress slideshow below.
Session 4 In-Progress Student Work Slideshow
Shortly after I got home, I received an email from Nancy Doran, who had already completed her goldfish, “Mimi,” based on my pattern Carpe Carpem. Mimi is a colorful gal with false eyelashes, red-red lipstick, and bling in her tail. This theme of a very flashy fish grew out of Nancy’s imagining of a “backstory” for Mimi. At one point she wrote in the corner of the piece “‘Mimi,’ current headliner at ‘La Cage au Poisson!’ Enter, stage left….” Imagining Mimi as a burlesque performer helped Nancy make decisions of what fabrics and colors to choose. Having a story associated with an image is often helpful when working on a fabric collage piece.
Over half of the eleven teachers of this session were continuing from the first week of classes. I had the pleasure to meet award-winning quilter Melissa Sobotka for the first time in Session 3 as one of my students (see her screaming emu in On the Road: Empty Spools, March 2018, Week 1 of 2). Melissa’s quilts are absolutely amazing and she was one of the instructors herself in this following week of Session 4.
On the day classes ended, when most students and teachers had left Asilomar, Melissa and I got to see the P.G. (Pacific Grove) Butterfly House. It’s quite a local spectacle. Turns out Melissa appreciates the color and outrageous decorations as much I do (I knew I liked her!), and she snapped the selfie of us below.
Me Time
After a solid eleven days of teaching, it was time for a little me time. My BFF Barb Grant picked me up, housed me, and took me sightseeing for a couple extra days in Pacific Grove and the Monterey Bay area.
The first day, Barb took me around to some favorite spots in Pacific Grove, then we visited a local quilt shop, Back Porch Fabrics, where we added a few choice pieces to our fabric stash and took in a quilt show in their back room featuring birds of all sorts.
Bird Quilts
From the from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection, Back Porch Fabrics, Pacific Grove, CA, on display until April 30, with beautiful quilts by many quilt artists, and quite a few by Ruth McDowell.
Without a Net
On our second day together Barb, her husband Irv, and I traveled not too far north to the San José Museum of Quilts and Textiles where I met some of the fellow fabric enthusiasts who work there.
I was awed by a current exhibit, “Without a Net”, by Susan Else. Her sculptures are 3D fabric collages—some of them even kinetic! Check out photos from the exhibit and video of her “When Ponies Dream” carousel and “Above the Boardwalk” ferris wheel below.
Hi Susan!
Wow! What an amazing couple of weeks! I am always so impressed with your students’ work. Your extracurricular activities, especially Susan Else, were really over the top! So happy you had a good time in California–we want you to come back!🦋
Oh! I loved the birds at Back Porch! I could spent much more time in there. Thanks for the class pictures. I love to see all the process and the happy mess.
Susan you are so much fun! I had a great time in your class and you were a delight to get to know. See ya next year!