I am like many of you, trying to find strength in my quilting. I lost my husband of 30 years in Aug 2011, and am having trouble focusing. I have been quilting only about 5 years, and I know that colors and fabrics and patterns of quilts can make my mind happy and calm right now. I need to keep busy at my machine, it occupies your mind and if I am making for someone else, that helps. I had no idea how hard this would be (because it was never going to happen, right?) but trying to make the way forward on my own is being accomplished with many friends, and this quilting board is so very helpful. It is hard to think of taking care of myself, when taking care of others is what most of our lives have been based on. I hope and pray that all of us are blessed with the strength we need to keep traveling. I have many quotes and thoughts on my refrigerator, one of my favorite is (from my minister's sermon) "We all have unwanted journeys in our lives, but God is always there beside us on the journey. And these journeys are not the end of our stories." I don't know you all, but I'm so glad you are here!