thanks barb, so far everyone I've talked with is so friendly.

thanks teacup, I have another friend in the grief chatroom that I'm fond of and her name is teacup too!

Welcome from the southeastern corner of the mitten!! I'm so sorry about your loss. If you are interested, and you celebrate Christmas, I have a wonderful idea for an ornament that I've used several times to remember loved ones. Just PM me, and I'll give you the directions. 8-)

Welcome from Lansing, MI. I lost my Dad last July and it is the hardest thing I have ever gone through...I cannot imagine losing my son....my heart and thoughts go out to you. Quilting is definitely always been my outlet through stressful times and brings me a sense of peace. I am 'addicted' to this group and the people are so sweet and kind....you have come to the right place for friendship, fun and support..... GLAD TO HAVE YOU!!!

thanks for the welcome, and yes we do celebrate christmas. We used to go all out with decorations inside ad out but last year, my husband was fighting cancer. I thank god everyday that he spared him. we are in constant fear that it will return but I can tell you this, a terrible death and a terrible disease will either break you or make you. I feel that it has made me who I am today. I thank god that I found a way to express myself too. I decoratd cakes for years so I think some of that has helped me in my quilting. I never keep them, I give them to friends. I have one I made and have one started that I will use on my bed someday. what's your idea for a bulb?

thank you Kelli, I nearly lost my husband last year, he had esophageal cancer. only 5 out of 100 beat it. We know it will come back some day. He will have to be checked every 3 months and have ct scans and blood draws and exrays every 3 months. he has one more year of that then it will be every o6 months. after 5 years, it will be checked once a year. I'm so sorry that you lost your dad. That's hard to do too. My dad was my buddy, I rode with him in the grader while I was a kid. My dream would be to have one final ride in a grader and work all the gears. When I think of lmy dad, that's one of the things I think about. I'm not the best quilter in the world and have never had a lesson. They are very expensive so I just get clues from reading other folks stories. Someday, I would love to have a long arm but I have no where I can put it. maybe a short one? haha. again, thank you for writing back.

My fiance is a widower and has two grown sons. The boys were 13 and 15 when their mother died from breast cancer. Two Christmases ago I took some curtains she had made for their home and, with Don's blessing, I cut them into narrow strips -- about an inch or so wide. I used pinking shears. There were three different colors of curtains. One one pair of curtains she had used a decorative heart stitch to hem them. I cut it as narrow as I could so as not to loose the stitching. Next, I very tightly braided the strips together then, using a hot glue gun, I attached them to clear glass ornaments. Next, I glued the narrow heart stitch strip around the middle of the ornament. The final touch was to glue on a charm from a bracelet she used to wear. The charms contained photographs of her and the boys together. I selected the charms for the boys' ornaments of her holding them when they were little guys (probbly 2 and 4 years of age). For Don's ornament, I attached a bracelet he had given to her that had her name engraved on a little heart charm. I wrapped the ornaments in tissue paper and tucked them into velvet boxes I bought from a dollar store. I included a little note that read: This ornament was made using fabric from curtains your mother had made to beautify your home. May the love she sewed into them touch your heart now and always. I gave the ornament and a stand to hang it on to each of them. Needless to say, they were quite overwhelmed. Those "tough guys" turned to mush. See how much those ornaments meant to them made me cry, too.

You can use shirts for the fabric. I have shirts that belonged to Don's father that I want to use to make him another ornament. I want to get a shirt from Don's two sons so that the three of them will be braided together -- quite symbolic I think.

Hi and welcome from the sunny state of Florida!!!

Sorry about the loss of your son!

Hello and welcome from the U.P. of mi

nice thought about ornaments, Ihave made things with those before, I'll see if I have anymore of them . I've used potpoutrri in them and silk flowers. I have some of my mothers lace, I could use that I guess. altho I don't think they would have the right feeling behind them. We weren't exactally the best of friends, I loved her but we just couldn't get along. She used to beat me and I can't forget that! and I can't forgive her either.