Lots of good ideas expressed here. Here's another one: During the Civil War there were numerous quilt guilds that made quilts for soldiers. Each soldier had a quilt to use as a bedroll, a backpack to carry his mess kit, ammo, and other items, and, if he was killed in battle, he was rolled up and buried in it. Guilds made over 250,000 quilts for soldiers. The reason there are so few quilts left from that time is that they were in bad condition and falling apart at the end of the war. Today guilds make quilts for hospitals, nursing homes, overseas aid, fund raising and for wounded soldiers.