14 tcf.org.uk alphabet first, so that every TCF parent, partaking or not, would have an initial for their child, in the quilt. It makes it timeless and all embracing. Some parents sent photographs of the stones they had painted for their beautiful child; many wanted me to paint stones for them. I was delighted and humbled by the amount of emotional investment, you, as bereaved parents, gifted to the project. I have run community projects previously and have never experienced this amount of passion. It was an honour to be asked to paint your stones and many of you trusted me with your precious heartbreaking stories and poignant memories. I organised the photographs into files. Each contributor has their own file in order to preserve their copyright. Throughout this time, I was becoming increasingly ill and needed to be admitted to hospital several times, resulting in two serious operations. All I could think of was not letting you down. I asked the TCF groups for volunteers to help me and was joined by Jo Moffat, Kate Roux, Amanda Clark and Johanna Banks. We became a great team. Thank you so much Team Quilt – you are incredible. As the images came in, they needed to be resized and put in the relevant digital sub-folders. Once they were ready, they were put into the Stone Quilt image, which necessitated them to be constantly moved around so I could create a colour and a name balance. I saved each stage as I was adjusting the quilt image and the Stones Folder is 13.94GB – which is huge! The final quilt file is 1.04 GB as the layers have not been flattened so that it can be adjusted if need be. It has been a long journey of organisation, heartache, joy, connection, teamwork and determination. Thank you to all of your for your help. The Stone Memory Quilt was finished by December 2024. Parents are now printing the design onto cushions and blankets. One mum said she likes to think of all of our children being together, looking after each other – and that is exactly what we all do in TCF – look after and care for one another. Our children are the quilt that binds us. COMPASSION | FEATURE - TCF STONE MEMORY QUILT For more information, including how to order printed copies of the Stone Memory Quilt, please contact Anna direct at anannais@ btinternet.com
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