THE sale of a lifetime of stitching work in Alva netted thousands of pounds for a Strathcarron service which makes sure patients can spend their final moments at home.

Dunblane woman Joyce Watson recently celebrated her 80th birthday and used the occasion to “downsize” and sell her fabric art pictures last month to benefit the Hospice@Home scheme.

The nurses from the team recently cared for a number of her friends and since the feedback from families had been so fantastic Joyce decided she would do her part in keeping the service going.

As a gift for Joyce’s 80th, husband Bob covered printing costs and footed the bill for the hire of the Parklands Centre, where she meets regularly with her quilt group Alva Divas and where the exhibition and sale took place in April.

The Divas also answered the call and came to her aid with their renowned home baking skills to help out at the fundraising display, which Joyce titled A Life in Stitches.

Joyce said: “I had so much stuff, there were over 100 pieces and some of them are quite big.

“And you can’t hold onto them forever. The family had what they want and I thought it would be nice to raise some money by trying to sell them.”

Joyce started off with embroidery many years ago, later moving on to quilt art. She has been attending the local group for 12 years now.

The works at the exhibition were varied in style and tone, she used everything from Celtic motifs through nature to the modern with a fabric depiction of the three Forth Bridges for instance.

Only a few pieces of art were left at the end, with the event raising £6,576 for the Hospice@Home team.

Strathcarron Hospice started the service in 2014 and after initial lottery funding, it is now relying on donations whilst expanding.

Patients are referred to the service and it works closely with district nurses and social services to provide end of life care at home, enabling relatives to spend the final moments together as a family, rather than carers.