After all students had left and I had returned the key of my classroom Heather to Empty Spools management, I was done with my commitment and had the whole day for myself as the flight back to Washington DC wasn't until the next day.

The weather was gorgeous so I decided  to walk to Pacific Grove and visit the little town. The walk is 33 minutes. My students had told me about the two quilt shops, perfect destinations for my day of leisure. I planned on taking an Uber back.

I was almost at the end of the Asilomar grounds  when I noticed a car behind me. I moved to the side of the road to make space and saw two ladies. The car stopped. "Where do you want to go to?" When I told them my plans, they laughed and said "Step  in. We will bring you."  I had never met them before but for some reason I had no hesitation to step into the car of these unfamiliar ladies. "We are Jenny and  Chris. We are here for session 4 of Empty Spools but we have a few hours to spare and thought we would check  out the local quiltshops." 

I explained to them I had just finished session 3 as an instructor and Jenny told me that she was an instructor also! Jenny Haynes of Sweden, living in the UK. Chris was a longtime fan of Jenny and elated to be in her class as a student. I know Jenny's work (she was recently featured in the magazine Quilt Folk with Stichting in Sweden) and she was going to teach two classes at Empty Spools in sessions 4 and 5. The instructors are coming from all over the world!

Together we went to Back Porch Fabrics , a very nice and bright quiltshop. I didn't know that Claudia was the owner, but I had met Claudia in Houston a couple of times before. I knew she had bought a quilt shop, but just didn't know which one. So while Claudia and I were catching up,  three of my students also entered the shop. We can't get enough of fabric! And one of them had also placed an order at my collagefabric.com site that I shipped as soon as I got back home!!

Chris, Jenny and I went to Bookstore, the local coffeeshop, where we enjoyed a nice coffee and continued our chat while sitting outside in the Californian sun. It was so lovely! I found out that Jenny was sleeping in the room next to my room, was teaching in the same classroom (Heather) and will teach a class for MISA in Bar Harbor, Maine, one week before I will teach my class in September. So it seemed (and felt) that we were close to each other, even though we are complete opposites in styles. We continued our lovely meeting with a vist to The Sewing Corner, also a nice place, and then Jenny and Chris had to return to Asilomar to begin their session 4. Such a delightful surprising day! She and I will stay in touch and I am looking forward seeing her maybe in Bar Harbor as we exchange classrooms again!

I strolled a little longer around in Pacific Grove and caught that easy living Californian vibe, that reminded me a little of Southern France and Australia. I decided, that there was plenty of time to walk back and that I had time to take the much longer walk along the coast. The walk back was so spectacular! This stretch of coastline was even  more impressive than the beach at Asilomar! I soaked up the views, sat on many benches pinching myself. How lucky am I with such a beautiful week! And is that an otter? Or a seal? Birds, some very familiar with picking food out of trashcans, rock formations, splashes of water, waves, tidepools. This area is so incredible beautiful. I think I saw a whale as well,  but  that may have been my dreaming eyes. I followed the trail through Asilomar State Park and by 6 pm I was back at the grounds. Session 4 students were walking around and I enjoyed dinner was them. I happened to sit next to Ethylene Ziegler, another student of Jenny, and so I had yet another wonderful conversation with a modern quilter.  We had a little chat about all the solids at QuiltCon. She hadn't noticed this so much, but told me later that she checked it out and is now feeling a bit challenged to make a quilt with prints.

I felt a tiny bit jealous of all these people that were about to start a wonderful week, but my heart was overflowing with gratitude already, full and enriched. I also was tired, my energy had been spent and my voice had worked enough! It was time to go home, to my husband, my studio and my tennis. See you next year in session 5, Empty Spools!