Passage Quilts....who does them
 

I also prefer the idea of giving to the person, while he/she is still alive. That way the family has a quilt, actually used by the person.

I think the one giving to the person is alive and then giving to the family is a great idea. Interesting topic.

Morbid or not, we are all faced with this fate. Some families find it comforting, some not so much, I guess. I am thinking of making my own....got a pattern in mind, but who should get it? I have 4 girls and helped raise one gdaughter and did raise one grandson. So I need to think this some more, I guess.

My aunt's daughter draped a quilt she made for her (made for the dau) over her casket and it was quite lovely and well received. I think its a wonderful idea and a great memory for a loved one.

delma

I've made my casket quilt. It is currently hanging on my wall, but the directive to the mortician is attached to the back! I don't want it draped .... I want it cut and my casket upholstered with it! My family thinks I'm morbid and nuts, but completing my casket quilt is on my bucket list and has been scratched off :)

Yes, there is a lot of confusion about the different types.
They all serve different purposes and can be very touching.

Here's two threads that may help you gather more info and ideas ....

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t179122.html

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...A-t196407.html

I will caution anyone who is considering making these, to please contact those intended to receive them before you start cutting and sewing, to find out if there are any requirements re size, fabric, colours etc.

Bless All, who get involved.
It really is worth the while!

This may be a little off topic, but I have a friend (quilter) whose Mother was also a quilter all her life. When her Mother passed away, they took several of her quilts to the funeral home, and had them displayed and her favorite one was draped over her casket. It was a lovely tribute to her.

My niece lost her baby 2 years ago, passing just days before his due date. They were going to bury him in just a t shirt and diaper...I said no no. I made a very sweet gown made of blue satin and white lace . Embroidered his name and birth date. I made a matching casket cover that my niece kept. Then funeral home thought it was a very touching gift. I have since made 3 burial gowns and donated them to the funeral home...no one should bury their baby in just a blanket if I can help it.

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I think this is such a beautiful idea.

my daughter had a still birth. she asked if i would make a quilt for the funeral. i made two - one covered and was buried with the casket and one was given to the parents. each had the baby's monogram on it. my son in law loves that quilt so much he has it hanging on the wall with the portraits of the other 4 children.

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but our church has a Scripture Quilting group where we make quilts for cancer patients. They're lap quilts and they take them to their treatments. Unfortunately, sometimes they don't survive their battle and their quilts are given to family members or they're buried with them. I recently made a quilt for a friend and she just passed last month. I'm comforted with the knowledge that her quilt is now comforting her three children who were left behind. I think it's a great cause that you're considering taking up.

I've, also, heard them called "comfort quilts." My son recently passed away and there was a beautiful bow-tie quilt laying on him at the funeral home. This quilt was not for the family but for the next one who passes. Some places give them to the families, some places do not. In this case, I was glad to let it pass on to another.

I made a casket quilt for my grandma. She is 98 and lives in a nursing home. The quilt is more of a table runner size. It has her name, how many years she was married to my grandpa, that she was a mom, a grandma, a great-grandma, and a great-great-grandma. It also has a mariners compass in the middle. It turned out really nice.

When my mom recently passed away the Chaplin brought us a prayer shall told us the history of it, said some scripture and then presented it to us. It was laid over Mom for the scripture reading. I presented it to my dad as a final hug from MOm and it is currently at his home. They can be of great comfort to the bereaved.

Thank you all for all your imput, I knew this was a caring group......
will keep you updated on what the Hospice says to me the first of the week.

I like the last idea best, but I had to share. Probably the strangest quilt I was ever asked to make was a reversable quilt with t-shirts on one side, and her late husbands boxer shorts on the other, with a lot of photo transfers scattered throughout. I got it done for her, but for some reason it was just kind of creepy to me. I guess that warm and fuzzy feeling of sitting under a quilt and knowing it was some ones old underware, did me in! LOL!! None the less she loved it when it was done, and that's all that counts. :) So I hope that brought a little laugh out of a morbid subject, and I truly recommend you not going my route if possible!! hehehe...

We buried my mom in the last quilt she worked on and completed - a few weeks before she passed. We buried my dad in the quilt my mom made him and he kept on his bed. It was hard letting go of those two special quilts, but it meant the world to us kids to do it.

That is my plan also. I have my quilt made already - my Memory Quilt. Then in lieu of flowers I am going to have my most treasured quilts (that I have made) and the quilts I received from my mother and my grandmother flanking the casket. Each quilt will be labeled so people can see who made them and then there will be the book that I made with my Memory Quilt. Then they all will be given to my son and his family. I don't think anything that we plan is morbid. What's the old saying "My Quilt - My Rules"! Edie

Mom is in last stages of ALZ and will pass away at home. thought about making a passage quilt but instead decided to use one of the colorful sheets to cover her body as she leaves our house for the last time. Sorry...don't want that sheet back. Just MHO and each one is intitled to their own opinion. Our first son was still born and the quilt I had over his coffin is stored away and shocks every time I see it. Some pain never goes away...even after 30 years.

I have prepaid for my funeral, picked out my own casket, etc. I have already told my kids that I would really prefer that the family all bring their favorite quilt I have made for them and display them around the church. I haven't picked out a quilt for my casket cover, any of the ones I have kept for myself would be okay with me, they can make the decision. Although I love flowers, and gardened for many years, I have developed such an attachment to the quilts I have made that I really like this idea. We buried my dad in his western shirt, jeans, and the suede vest that he loved so much and had a lovely flower arrangement in his newest booth sitting at the end of the casket. It just seemed so appropriate and comforting to see him dressed like that. He never wore a suit, ever!

What a beautiful act of love!

My mother recently passed away and we asked people to donate to her favorite charity instead of sending flowers. She had a favorite lap quilt that I had made her years ago and this was placed over her. It added the "color" of flowers and I feel better knowing she would be happy with the amount of contributions made in her name to the charity. She was buried with the quilt and I'm comforted by that.

I know this is a little more personal than making quilts for Hospice patients that you don't know but I still think most family members would like something like this.

How touching. What a lovely tribute to one of GOD's angels.

I've been commissioned a few times to do memory quilts from clothing the deceased wore then given to a loved one. One of them also had me make a small wallhanging from these clothes for another family member.

But I also like the last idea of presenting them to the patient then pass along to the family. But people have their own way of remembering their loved ones or whatever the person wants is always the best idea (for them).

The hospital in Marshfield Wisconsin has a "Comfort Cart" that goes in the room with a very ill or dying person. It contains coffee, tea, snacks, etc. and a comfort quilt. The family is welcome to anything on the cart while they stay with their loved one. The quilt can be taken home with them after the crisis is resolved one way or the other.
The hospital asked that the quilts be about 40 X 60. Our quilt club had 14 of these on display at our quilt show, and we are still making more. This was my "project" for the year I am president.
Not all of the quilts are going to the hospital. Some are going to people our members know who they think will benefit from and appreciate them.

I make quilts for those with terminal illnesses. Some of my friends have their visitors sign the quilt blocks. Then, at their death, the quilt is draped over the casket. The quilt is folded and presented to the family at the funeral. One friend brought hers home and draped over her sofa back, and then, a quick few months later, it was needed for her sister's unexpected funeral. Now it resides back at the house, on the back of the sofa. The quilt was much appreciated by the family members. Their church has begun making the quilts now tocontinue the tradition.

I made a reversible one 2 yrs ago. Had female side and male side implied. For me the understanding was the
funeral director uses it to cover the body bag when bringing body from a private home to the auto or in our local area
where they have to walk down a hall and the other residents get to see a quilt covering the deceased rather than bag
which I am told can upset some of them very much. The quilt is kept by mortuary so no family squabbles .
I was pleased to donate the quilt -sizes given to me to be sure to cover guerney but not drag. Used here for a female neighbor and have heard some happy results in other cities. My friend told me about them because she saw
one elderly man walk to her brothers bag and say goodbye to him. The caregivers said usually the clients are
upset and restless after a death but not if they see the quilt. I think it helps pay respect.

This topic reminds me of my visit to the quilt museum in Lincoln NE. They had a coffin quilt on display. It seems that years ago a quilt or cover was placed over the coffin at the funeral home or at the home of the deceased. It struck me as odd at first but comforting too....

I made my in laws a quilt representing them and their four children (Eleanor Burns 'Sisters' quilt pattern) by using the favorite colors of each family member.

The label was an appliqued heart of the color representing each family member, with their name embroidered in a large font next to their heart. How my MIL loved that quilt! She was nearly blind but she could feel the embroidered label with each person's name and see the color of the hearts.

She had cancer and died a short time later. My FIL covered her casket in the church with her quilt - said she had it with her constantly in her last days. I didn't realize I had made a passage quilt, but I guess I did.

My quilt guild makes Hospice Quilts. After they are given, I'm not sure what happens to them, but I'd like to think they are used in this way somehow.

I'm afraid I'd have to draw the line, at quilting someone's underwear. :thumbdown:

I agree.....I had no problem making "Memory Quilts" for my grandchild with my husbands shirts and blue jeans....but thats where I draw the line !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Everyone, I have already heard from the Director of the local Hospice. He is very excited about my idea. The Volunteer Director will be calling Tuesday for details....I want to stay positive with this whole venture.....
I know I am going to have to do a show and tell quilt....and of course my closet is empty because I always give everyting away....I think I will make a simple but happy D4P....and see how fast I can sew.....I think when I quilt I will do FM hearts.....

My sister was diagnosed with inoraberable cancer and had 3 1/2 months to live. She, I and all her friends were quilters. We all made blocks and sent them to one of her friends who put them together in a quilt. We gave it to my sister. She didn't get to use it very long, but she was buried in her pajamas and slippers and had that quilt covering her. It meant so much to all of us. She had made a beautiful quilt and it covered her casket during the funeral and her daughter received it afterwards.

Before I began making quilts we lost a baby grandson. My daughter took her older son's quilt, made by a close friend, and other tiny trinkets (grandmother's small cross, a crystal birthday candle holder from a very dear friend, etc.) and put them in a box the size of the casket her husband was making with a cousin. (Kubler-Ross says the more you do the better you feel later when you lose a child.) The quilt was the most significant thing since it was the one thing that could be seen, although her husband and my sister were the only ones who saw the baby after the autopsy (required to help medical research find a cure for what killed the child) nestled in that quilt. My sister said it was beautiful (in a very sad way)! The quilt was such a comfort to my daughter (makes me cry as I write this!). It may have been what started me quilting since I did start right after that. And the friend who made the first quilt sent a new quilt to her when she heard that the first one was now "gone". There can be magic in quilts, and I think it is called "love".

There are several organizations that contibute to larger city hospitals that have NICU units for preemies. There is a need for burial quilts/blankets as many are unable to provide for the infants. Newborns in Need is nation wide and needs all the helpers they can find. If you contact them or even your local hospital more information can be found. I like all of the above ideas and have much to think aout. Thank you for starting this thread.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes my local quilter friend mades for a local hospital, she knits little tiny premie caps and blankets for them to wear on their final journey.....

My SIL's mother, a dear friend to us all was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She had some embroidered blocks way back in a closet that HER mother had done back in the 40's. She gave them to me and asked that I put them in a quilt and I understood she wanted it before she passed. It came out beautifully and I was able to take it to her and put it on her when she was close to the end. She kept fingering her mother's stitches.
After she died, the quilt was carefully folded and passed on to her granddaughter, my niece. So we have a great-grandmother's needlework, passed to her dying daughter, quilted by my niece's aunt and in the hands of my young niece to use and pass on to her children. Quilting heritage...

After reading all these posts...
What I see is a group of people with kind and loving hearts!!

I used to work for our local Hospice. One of the things our volunteers made was lap robes. Actually, they were ment to cover a person's lap while sitting. Nothing special, not quilted. Some were made from fabric, while others were croched. I can tell you most families were very appreciative of the effort. Whatever came of them after the family member passed away I don't know. Another thing we offered to family members was taking an article of clothing and creating a pillow. This was well received.

Each family deals with death in their own way and it was ours to honor that family.



Y'all make me proud to be a part of this group of compassionate people.

Before a quilt is given to a person who is dying, you definitely need to inquire as whether or not it is really wanted. My mother was in the hospital for a week before she died and kept sending home everything that was given to her except for flower arrangements. Her body went from the hospital to the funeral home and then to the cremetory. No one saw her after she left the hospital, but I was with her when she died. A week later, when all of her grandchildren and greatgrandchilren could come from two continents, we had a memorial service and a month later one of her grandsons took her ashes to the cemetary where she had a couple of decades before purchased her monument . He made arrangements for the final date to be engraved. If a quilt had been left with her, it would have just been something else to be taken care of along with her clothes, furniture, etc. Only the things that were memories from their childhood were wanted by the grandchildren. My brother only wanted a grandfather clock and I have had more than I could handle with the rest of the estate. It isn't that a quilt isn't nice; it is that with everything else that is left by the deceased it would have lost among the bulk of things - and it's only memory would have been of her death, not her life. I'm very glad no one offered us one.