Saved ASE patterns are showing up as blank/not visible on desktop.

[OriginalBologna]

Hi,

I saved some patterns as .ase files. When I look on my desktop they dont exist (search for all .ase files and their names are no where on computer). In an Illustrator file I am able to find them, under " open swatch library > user defined ". When i open the swatches through that method, they show up as being empty (except for one of them) like as if there are no patterns saved within the swatch. So my questions:

1. why are they visible only while in illustrator and not somewhere i can see them on my desktop. When saving the .ase files, all the other ones i've saved show up under the "swatches" folder in AI, but then when i look in that folder outside of saving the files they aren't there.

2. why are they showing up as being empty, with the exception of the one .ase file that is not empty. Is there a way to load them or is there some error going on? or did I save them wrong? In the screenshots attached, the "flowers" should have patterns in it just like how the "Christmas" does. 

[Ton Frederiks]

Try to save your patterns library as .ai instead of ase. ASE files are used for exchanging colors and patterns are only visible in Illustrator.

[Doug A Roberts]

Are you a Mac user? If so, your user library (where preferences such as the user defined swatch libraries folder are stored) may be hidden by default:

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

Edit: Alternatively, are you looking in the right folder? The user defined menu points to Adobe Illustrator XX Settings\en_US\x64\Swatches in user preferences, not the application swatches folder (Adobe Illustrator 20XX\Presets\en_US\Swatches)