Imagine a week of sewing each day for as long as you like. A week with all your meals prepared for you. A week among like-minded people who quickly become your friends. A week of sea breezes, ocean views, beach walks, and spectacular sunsets. That’s a week at an Empty Spools Seminar at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California.

I went in April this year and had a better time than I can say. There was a little trepidation on my part; I’m a bit shy and not the most accomplished quilter. I wondered if I could keep up with the class and the teacher. Then my roommate canceled which didn’t help things at all! But as soon as I checked in, I felt at home. Everyone was so friendly, I saw an old friend, and the teacher put us all at ease with her down-to-earth, you-can-do-it, supportive style.

The class I took was Janet Fogg‘s Innovative Traditionals. I signed up for this one because I make traditional quilts and would like to become more innovative, so it sounded perfect. It was. We brainstormed and generated quilt ideas for each other for 2 days and then really got into the nitty gritty of drafting the design for our own quilt. I based mine on the Log Cabin block (a traditional favorite of mine) and added a feather to it for the innovation. I was using a poem by Emily Dickinson as inspiration.

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune—without the words

And never stops at all

Here’s the pattern I drafted with two blocks completed. I imagine it’ll take me a year to finish—just in time to take another seminar at Asilomar!

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