Several years ago a woman who taught quilting at my old church passed away. In lieu of the majority of flowers (there were several) her family displayed her quilts - probably 20 or more. It was a beautiful tribute to her, since everyone knew Melinda was the "quilt lady" :) It's because of her that I finished my first quilt in a very long time, and also because of her that I keep my rotary cutter closed :) She used to come around and tease us that she would take our cutter away if she ever saw it open! :)

I wish I had had more opportunities to be in her classes. It was less than 3 months after I took her class that she lost her battle with cancer. You would never have known that she was ill in the classes though. She never let on that she was in pain.

Several years back, prior to 97", when we moved here, we went to a funeral for my step MIL's older sis. She was an amazing quilter, & this was a memorial service for her. There were quilts everywhere, all big & beautiful & ones she had made, at one time or another. Wished I had brought a camera! I wasn't a really a quilter at that time, but always wanted to learn & that was the most beautiful memorial service I ever went to. Oh, & also, there were so many quilters who got up to speak about here afterwards too, amazing!....

Great idea!

I had a great grandson who died before he was four months old. I had made a kitty quilt fot him and his mom asked if it could be buried with him. I told her it was his quilt and she was free to do whatever she wanted with it and she did bury him with it. I felt really honored that she thought so much of the quilt.

Yes I have seen this, Our local florist sells throws and will put them on stands with a card and bow.

In the area where I live they are used frequently. This has only been happening for the last year or so. I think they are so much nicer to give or receive than flowers. Most of the time people here use a throw size quilt. They are very pretty displayed. Flowers are so hard to find a place for but quilts and throws are always needed.

I lost my bestest Quilty girlfriend to cancer 2 years ago. We displayed quilts she had made, the one I made for her to cover up with during chemo as well as several paintings and other mementos that were important to her like her Bible, water baptism certificate, pics of her children, dogs she showed and horses etc. It was a nice reminder of those things most important to her.

What a lovely gesture!

Hi Chasing hawk, When my husband wsa baptized and confirmed at St Xavier Montana he recieved a quilt from the congregation, When he died of cancer in 2003 I did not put flowers on his casket, I put the quilt over the casket and OUR SAVIORS big crusifiction cross, the priest blessed the grave and every one thought that was the best thing to do :thumbup:

Reading every post has become difficult through my tears. Beautiful stories of love expressed with fabric!

I have told my family that I want my quilts to be displayed at my memorial service. We did that at my DH's grandmother's service with a quilt my MIL made for her years ago with all the childrens' and grandchildrens' hand prints embroidered on the quilt blocks, with their names and birth dates. It was so beautiful hanging up there. My local quilt guild is glad to loan the quilt stands for services like these.