I am in the same situation. My mom died a year old. She was diagnosed with alzheimer's and came to live with us the last 2 yrs of her life. I am probably going to use some of her clothes in several quilts, but will try similar fabrics in sample blocks first. I was also thinking about transfering pictures onto fabric to incorporate into the final quilts.
I am trying to get over my drepression over over her death before I start