It worked. Signing up for a class last weekend broke the invisible wall that has kept me from quilting. Yesterday I sat down in the spot in my very own sewing room that looks out on melting piles of snow and a timid forsythia bush, and began. For the first time since December I am piecing again. 

The class itself was not life changing. In fact the machines they lend to students in the hope of closing sales are so edgy I was intimidated. The new features make it unnecessary for me to raise or lower the pressing foot, pierce the needle, or snip the thread. There is even a cruise control button that leaves me nothing to do but steer. And because I did not realize there is a knob to regulate speed, which was at half power, I was the last woman in the room to finish the cross hatching.  That was embarrassing. One of the teachers could have helped me but I had used up my quota of questions on filling the unfamiliar bobbin and what exactly does the blinking red light mean? 

The hotel was packed with women who adore fabric, and an impressive number of faithful husbands lugging suitcases. John had his computer and waited in the lobby. Because I have been thinning my stash I brought along a bag of four inch squares of designer fabrics. They were too small to be given to the thrift store, as well as too beautiful to be appreciated by their clientele, so I decided to leave it on a table at the quilt show with a sign that said FREE. As it happened, I caught a glance of the happy woman who adopted it, tucking it in with her purchases. I could have introduced myself but it was better this way. 

John believes that one of the hidden values of being in a marriage group or mentoring quartet is that it plunks couples in the chairs. By that he means that they overcome any resistance to simply talking about their relationships, presumably when things are humming along nicely. It normalizes the conversation. Then if things get snarled down the road, seeking support has one fewer obstacle. 

The truth is that the groups we lead are not life changing. They won't do the lifting and snipping for you, like these newfangled models that cost as much as a car. But given time they do help put the pieces together.