They had lost. They had grieved. They had even raised more than a million dollars to build a park to memorialize their daughter's memory.
Still, April Fenton could not let go.
When April and Jon Fenton's 13-year-old daughter, Brandi, died in a tragic automobile accident in March 2003, Brandi's closets were jammed with clothes.
T-shirts, jeans, sweaters, formal wear, sweats, even a poodle skirt from a '50s costume.
Five years past her death, Brandi's clothes were still hanging in the closet, still stacked inside drawers.
"I couldn't bear to get rid of them," says April — despite the fact that many of the bereaved parents she met in therapy had given their children's clothes to churches and charities.
More than the clothes, it was Brandi's scent her mother was clinging to.
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"Her clothes smelled like the bath and beauty works Brandi would wear. She was a girly-girl."
But as time passed, the scent drifted away. And dust started collecting on the shoulders of Brandi's clothing.
Then April heard of someone out of state who had turned a deceased child's clothing into a quilt.
"To be honest, I was not sure what quilting was," says April, 43, who started scouring the Internet for quilting groups.
She also called around, seeking out local quilters.
"I called a quilting store, and they gave me a couple of names. Sue's was the first name I called, and that was that," says April.
Last March, April and a friend gathered up three black 30-gallon plastic bags stuffed with Brandi's clothes and drove to quilter Sue Moyer's home in SaddleBrooke.
Moyer was waiting for them. She also had done her homework, culling stories off the Internet about Brandi's death and the subsequent park that bears her name.
"From my research, I knew that Brandi liked butterflies, so I knew she had to like flowers, too," says Moyer, who had the clothing spread out on the floor.
"When I saw the clothes laid out, I cried," says April.
Meanwhile, Moyer was taking stock.
"When I looked at her clothes, I knew here was a young teen with T-shirts and jeans. But there was some formalwear, too.
"Her clothes were colorful. I saw Brandi as a bright, vivacious, outgoing girl. She was swimming, playing tennis, doing outdoor sports. Her clothing spoke very clearly as to who she was."
And who she was not.
"If I had gotten the sense that Brandi was shy and quiet, I would have done different quilts," says Moyer, who was able to fashion three quilts out of the clothing — one for Brandi's parents and one each for sister Cassidy, 12, and brother Garrett, 17.
Both Moyer and April were of a like mind when it came to the size and function of the quilts.
"When Sue asked me how big I wanted the quilts to be, I said I wanted them to be big enough to snuggle into," says April.
Says Moyer: "Brandi's mother had not let go of her clothes for five years. There was no way these quilts were going to be put away."
To increase the snuggle factor, Moyer backed each quilt with soft-as-down fleece in light blue — Brandi's favorite color. She also embroidered on the back of each quilt: "Brandi-Boo, we're all wrapped up in you."
Each of the quilts is 80 by 66 inches, with 15-inch blocks pieced together with everything from velvets and sheers to T-shirts, knits and pieces of Brandi's baby blanket.
The quilts are bordered with denim cut from the legs of Brandi's old jeans. "Sue didn't have quite enough denim, so she used a piece from my husband's jeans," says April.
"I tried to spread Brandi as far as I could," says Moyer, who laundered the clothes, cut them up — with April's permission — laid out the blocks and sent photos to April before sewing the blocks together.
"She was very respectful, very considerate," says April, adding that Moyer "wanted me to understand this would take some time. I told her: 'Listen, she's gone. All I have is time.' "
A quilter for the past 10 years, Moyer, 62, has done tribute quilts before, including one for a soldier returning from Iraq, and one to memorialize a father — a quilt that incorporated everything from his ties and handkerchiefs to a pair of suspenders.
Brandi is the youngest person she's ever memorialized through her quilting.
"These are the only quilts I ever cried over," says Moyer, who had another reason for wanting these quilts to be special.
"I grew up in a foster home; there were no family connections," says Moyer. "When people have a family, it's important to me that that's kept. I liked the sound of this family, the closeness. It's the family I never had."
By summer, the quilts were finished.
"When Sue called to say the quilts were done, I had to go and pick them up right away," says April.
And so Brandi's clothes have returned once more to her family, her home.
"I love this quilt," says April. "I take it off my bed and wrap it around myself and watch TV. It's like wrapping myself in Brandi. What a wonderful thing."
Opinion by
Bonnie
Henry
CONTACT INFO
For more information on Sue Moyer's quilts, e-mail her at susiemoyer@yahoo.com.