I came across this :
sbailes876.googlepages.com/Ann_Rinaldi_The_Coffin_Quilt.ppt
(copy and paste that in your browser, when you do a box pops up, click "open")while doing a google search. It's a powerpoint about the book "The Coffin Quilt", by Ann Rinaldi. It has a lot about the Hatfield and McCoy fued, which happened in the area I live in. The only public hanging in the fued was in my town!
The "coffin quilt" was done with a dark center block, that was the "graveyard" surrounded by patchwork blocks. The border contained coffin shaped applique embroidered with family member's names. As each person passed, their coffin was taken from the border and sewed in the center, in the "graveyard"!
I am amazed by this! I've heard the Hatfield/McCoy fued stories my whole life, but never about this. I'm going to get the book, here it is on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Coffin-Quilt-b...p/0152164502#_
And here's some info on coffin quilts:
http://www.shadowmanor.com/blog/?p=169
I'm attaching a picture of a coffin quilt (***deleted because of copyrights***), and here's the flickr page it came from with more pics:
http://www.shadowmanor.com/blog/?p=169