A woman has revealed her anguish after her labour of love quilt that she spent two years painstakingly creating was stolen from a Colne mill where it was being exhibited.
Pam Eccles (42) who lives in Bamber Bridge, near Preston, says her quilt was one of 30 created by enthusiasts which were stolen after thieves broke into the old Empress Mills building in King Street, Colne.
The quilts which had huge sentimental value and took a lot of time and money to create, were going to be displayed at the Empress Stitch Show. Pam, who is an interior design lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “I am devastated that these quilts have been stolen.
“Women who are in this creative field travel all over the country submitting their quilts in exhibitions and quilts just do not get stolen.
“It is all too convenient and it must have been done by someone in the know who knew how valuable these quilts were.”
Pam says that most people don’t understand the implications of the theft and dismiss it as “just a quilt”, but she says a lot of time and effort went into producing it.
She said: “I only started quilting and patchworking a few years ago and after seeing the design for this quilt, I fell in love with it and set myself the challenge of creating it.
“It is based on reverse applique and consists of more than 2,000 handmade textile leaves and was an absolute labour of love.
“It took me two years to complete and is irreplaceable.
“It is not just my quilt – some of the stolen quilts were family heirlooms.”
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “We are investigating this break in and would appeal for anyone with information to contact the police.”