I’m going to start at the end.
At the end of my first in-person class of the year 2022—after a week with folks that would have been in my first cancelled class of the pandemic, March of 2020. At the end of three years waiting to return to Asilomar State Park in Pacific Grove, California. And after numerous cat-years of Violet waiting for her portrait to begin (pictured above with her person—and my attentive class hostess—Christine Dennis).
It finally happened. Empty Spools Seminars is back.
In the following photo galleries, I’d like to introduce you to my students and their projects, in a virtual tour through our classroom on the final day. The class photos are in small groupings that when you scroll over, “pop-up” captions appear. Click on a photo to enlarge it and then advance through the other photos in that grouping—like pages in an album. A special thank you to Wendy Keeping for taking and emailing to me most of the person-with-project photos.
I think you’ll agree with me that congratulations and pats on the back are well deserved all around.
By the end of our days together, I’d collected an album of photos to share. The final images show projects well past the beginning “messy scary” stage. Are they finished? Not yet (except for Kathleen Dotson’s snake!), but most will get finished. At the end of the final day of class, tables are tidied up, names (and maybe descriptions of subjects) are added to the collages proudly displayed on pinning boards—soon to be viewed and admired by students from other classes during the traditional session-wide walk-through.
This class had a few groupings of friends (and mother/daughter Barb and Lindsay, below) attending together—a chance to enjoy each other’s company, with the added benefit of multiple fabric stashes to readily pull from.
As I’ve done with my live online classes and last year’s in-person classes, I divided the class and assigned seating based on their subjects, but still keeping in mind those friend-groups. It worked out nicely that friends Lorraine and Meredith both decided to collage their dog’s portraits, above. Completing the “dog corner” was Nancy and Roo, below.
Five ladies chose birds as subjects. Of the three friends—Phyliss, Audrey, and Phylis, above—there was a cardinal, a cassowary, and a stray hare.
A fantastical array of feathers, below, finished up the avian category, and the virtual class tour. Great jobs, ladies and gentleman!
And now that you’ve seen how the week’s quilts ended up, grab a second cuppa and check out the slide show below to see how they began!
Being at Empty Spools at Asilomar
Asilomar Conference Grounds is a sprawling campus of well-assimilated buildings for gatherings, classrooms, and lodging—surrounded by native flora and fauna. Click on and look closely at the upper-right photo below for a hidden lunch guest.
As the sun sets over the Pacific, evening programs finish up the days at Empty Spools. A highlight is the show-and-share portion—students bringing back work either begun at previous sessions or at other classes taught by attending instructors. Of course I look forward to seeing any work by my past students. One afternoon I had a surprise visit from two online students—Judy and Kathleen!
It’s fun to see any and all quilts being paraded across the stage, but I later caught up with a few of my students for quilt close-ups, below.
Meeting Up With Friends
After possibly more than a dozen years traveling to Asilomar, I’ve met people that have become friends. Meeting me at the airport and happily helping me with my baggage were Barb and Irv Grant. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” was Irv’s reaction to my impossible-to-miss flowered luggage as it rounded the corner at baggage claim. Note the travel poster behind Barb and Irv—the same Lone Cypress graces the background of next day’s selfie with teacher friend Sue Benner!
There’s not much time off once I hit the ground out there, but I make the best of it with bits of time in Pacific Grove at Julia’s Restaurant (amazingly yummy veggie food) and Tesutti Zoo with Barb, Sue, and friends from Wisconsin.
I got to visit with those WI friends—Chris, Nancy and Joe—since they were taking classes with Sue and another teaching friend, Katie Pasquini Masopust. So I got special insight into what they were up to during the week, while I was busy with my own class.
Out and About With Sue B. and Katie PM
Morning walks are the other way I get to connect with those I know. Arriving a day before classes began, Sue and I were housed at an inn in Pacific Grove for the first night—across the street from the scenic outcropping known as Lover’s Point—photos above and below.
After that breakfast with friends at Julia’s, we took a spin on 17-Mile Drive (a huge thank you to Barb and Irv for use of their car!!)—viewing the Lone Cypress and ending with architecture of Carmel with fences of twisted branches and fairy-tale houses with “thatched” wood shingle roofs.
As my plane descended to the Monterey airport I got great photo of the coastline—right along the ocean road/boardwalk route that Katie, Sue, and I would walk in the mornings! As we settled into the daily routine of class week, those walks began before sunrise (that’s the moon in the photo above), and ended in a four mile loop at the Asilomar dining hall for breakfast.
We saw a lot of morning fog along the ocean this particular week, but California can use any moisture it can get, so that was okay. It’s still a beautiful part of the world. The week went by fast, full to the brim with class, walks, visits—then it was time for goodbyes—and a quick turn-around to say hello to class #2. But that’s next week’s post.
The experience must be magical.
This brought tears to my eyes to see everyone together in person again!
I can hear the laughter in the room.
Thank you for sharing those wonderful memories. It was such a magical week.