Testimonial from Julie Bond

"From a pile of clothes Karen has made a family heirloom that I hope will be cherished long after I have gone!"

To lose my mum was a devastating blow. Even though it was inevitable it is still an enormous shock when it happens. My mum was my best friend and I still find it unbelievable that I'll never see her again.

One of the hardest things I had to do was sort out her clothes. My dad passed away 7 years ago and I found my mum had kept a few shirts of his. There was no way I could part with some of the clothes that had such happy memories attached to them. There was the dress that she brought for my daughters graduation, the apron that she always wore when she was baking and the pretty nighties she spent a lot of time in when she was constantly poorly. You can't keep everything though.

I was given the idea of a memory quilt by a good friend of mine who also had a quilt made - in fact I think that one was the first that Karen ever did. I am astonished and in awe of Karen and Julie's vision of how a quilt will look. From a pile of clothes Karen has made a family heirloom that I hope will be cherished long after I have gone! It is a thing of beauty and in the dark days and reflective moments I can cuddle my quilt and remember all the wonderful things we did together. On my quilt I have a robin (my dads name), Angels (my mum believed in Angels), my dogs passed and present also the words Always and Forever (which we always wrote in cards to each other) and lots of hearts. I absolutely love it and I thank Karen and Julie from the bottom of my heart.

Julie x