These coffin quilts are really cool, kind of creepy yes but also fascinating ... I've seen several different ones incl. this one
Also very interesting are the mourning quilts and child & baby mourning quilts that were often made
People back then embraced and accepted death so much more readily than we do today -
Also, it was very common to have photographs or early daguerrotypes made of the departed, as if they were just "asleep" - esp. touching are the ones made of babies and children, they were often posed on a bed or chaise (not in a coffin)