I've never heard of a coffin quilt before and I, too, thought it was one to put in the coffin with the deceased. My mom was a quilter and we used the last quilt that she finished as a table cloth on the memorial table where the guest book, pictures and photo albums were placed. When daddy got killed 5 months later we used the same quilt for his table. Mom had a total of 6 kids and 6 quilts when she died. We placed them in opaque tubs numbered them and each of us drew a number. I was fortunate enough to get what we now call the memorial quilt.