A friend of mine made one a few years ago, she made it look like clothes hanging on a clothes line, some ( askew) like being wind blown. I think there were 4 ( lines) of clothes. After I quilted it for her she added those little wood clothes pins you can buy at hobby stores. A very heavy quilt, but very cute. She did not stabilize the knits and it was quite a challenge to quilt. She left the clothes mostly intact but did cut away backs that would not be seen anyway. She left collars, neck trims, sleeves whole. When she cut away the backs she left enough side seams/ edges to turn under and not be noticeable that any was cut away. She also made two pillows to go with it with two ( favorite) clothing items ( one a pair of overalls and shirt, the other a favorite t shirt- so the mom had ( huggable) pieces. We also printed a picture of of the child on fabric and added birth/ death dates and a sweet excerp from a favorite book. Wish I had pictures. It did take me hours and hours to quilt- it was a pain! But she was happy with it.

My heart breaks for the mother's tragic loss. Bless you for being willing to help her deal with her grief by making a quilt.

Waiting for a few more months is an excellent idea. Grief does take time and does travel its own course. Waiting to make the quilt will give her more processing time and maybe (??) make handing over the clothes easier. I asked her what her son's favorite colors were and haven't heard back from her since. I am kind of detached from the hurt of this (although the death of a child is always painful) because I didn't know her son and I don't have a close relationship with her. She will always be one of my kids however, because she was a student of mine for 2 years.