I have to add my 2 cents on this subject. I'm a retired florist , now an obsessive quilter, so I think I can offer some insight.
Over the past 10 - 15 years funeral tributes have become much more personalized accross the country. In fact any good florist will ask the family about the life / interests of the deceased and incooperate something with the flowers along that line. Much more personalization. As families have scattered more, funeral customs have evolved. Funerals have only a small percentage of flowers that were used 35 yrs ago. Also with cremations, there is not the 2-3 day family wakes as in the past. Flowers are still appropiate, so are quilts and other momentos.
My mother loved flowers and always had a garden. For her funeral I personally arranged a vase of yellow roses, her favorite. For the last 30 years I lived 2000 miles accross the country from her. I sent her lots of flowers while she was alive. She died at age of 92 a few months ago. I had made a wallhanging using the paper doll pattern pattern to take to her. I knew she would love it. She never got to see it as she died as we were enroute on for a visit we had planned for months. I laid it over her feet when I saw her, where it still is. By the way Mom sewed and taught me not only to sew but how to get the most out of a piece of fabric. Before she died I was able to share the beginning of my quilting experience thanks to the telephone.