My family is from the South and there was a time when the funeral ribbons were given to a family member to create funeral pillows. The ribbon was cut and folded to look like flower petals. They were sewn onto a round pillow for, and a large button was added to the center. Looked like a daliha when it was done. Close family members would receive the pillows. Cool idea for a quilt.

Wow some of those ribbons were very long. They put those long long ribbons on baskets? Interesting to say the least! You're right though, a quilt is the last thing you would expect to see at a funeral museum. Although I don't even expect to see a funeral museum. I hope the location of your date was your idea because you said you always wanted to go see it LoL.

Is your date in the mortuary business?
Whatever, I hope you continue to respect each others interests!
Thanks for sharing

I've never heard of such a thing. Interesting. What a bright and happy funeral quilt.

This brings back memories for me. During my time as a hairdresser, I also worked part time at a funeral home and did the hair and make-up. In one particular instance, I met with some family members who had a photo of their mother. They brought a young girl about 10 years old. She made a pillow for her grandmother to rest her head on. I asked the family members if they wanted a few private moments with her before the viewing. She had already been dressed and just finished with her hair. They were very happy. The funeral director placed the pillow underneath her head. The little one said "Now that's my grandma. She always like my pillow cuz she said she always had sweet dreams". She can have sweet dreams from now on. I think the ribbon quilt is a beautiful idea. Whatever works to help one get through the mourning process. Some believe gestures like that to be morbid, some believe them to be beautiful. I like the beautiful beliefs. Anything that delicate would/should be gently washed by hand.

My first thought, too. Might work for a wall hanging, but not to be used.

And I'd find a funeral museum interesting.

Thanks for sharing. I had not seen anything made with the ribbons.

Here in Richmond, some of the museums have examples of jewelry made from the hair of the deceased. Prior I had seen lockets with hair inside, but never seen a locket made of hair. I can only image the delicate, time consuming efforts that went into making such a fragile items.

It's interesting to hear of the different mourning customs to be respectful of different people and their times.

My quilt guild has made 3 quilts to be used for removals. They were appr. 87" long x 58" wide. You have to make sure it will be long enough and wide enough and if it's too long or wide they can just fold it over if need be. The first one was just a scrappy nine patch and snowball pattern, we used darker more traditional fabrics with the main snowball being tan. http://www.flickr.com/photos/76263938@N02/8877628437/ The second one was semi-dark reds, creams and blues with a star theme. http://www.flickr.com/photos/76263938@N02/8877657351/ This last one was made using greens, brown http://www.flickr.com/photos/76263938@N02/10856446085/ Make sure you make it big enough to accommodate all sizes, ours were appr. 87" long and 58" wide.

To answer a couple of questions, I mentioned that I liked watching Antiques Road Show, and my date told me his mother gave him a miniature casket, about 12" long or so. I mentioned that it may have been a salesman's sample, and I mentioned the funeral museum at that time. He also has a cousin or brother in law or something that is a mortician and he has helped with ... stuff that goes on in a mortuary, not to be too creepy about it. So I mentioned the funeral museum and he thought it sounded interesting so that's why we went. There were more hearses than anything, but I enjoyed looking at the cars - all the way from the Model A to the most recent, which was a 2003 Cadillac (I think) that carried Presidents Reagan and Ford to their final resting places. There were several Packards, and looking at those cars, I hate that they just don't make cars with style anymore. No style at all. But anyway, it was definitely a different thing to do on a 2nd date. Another 2nd date I went on once was to a gay bar to a female impersonator show. That was interesting as well...