As the name implies, T-Shirts to Treasures™ takes the old clothing of the deceased and turns it into a memorial comfort quilt. The company can use just about any fabric to make a keepsake quilt: jeans, ties, T-shirts, button-down shirts, hats, you name it. What a handy way to get a loved one’s old clothes out of the closet yet still keep the favorites around!
The quilt can be used as a casket cover, in place of a funeral spray of flowers. The turn-around on a small quilt is 48 hours. The funeral director would work with the family to collect the clothing prior to a funeral or visitation and send the clothes to T-Shirts to Treasures™ to get the quilt manufactured in time for a memorial event. Families can provide input on the design if they wish.
The standard production time for a full-size quilt is three to four weeks. All the blankets made by T-Shirts to Treasures™ are machine washable on the delicate setting in cold water, tumble dry low.
A standard t-shirt quilt square is 13″ x 13″. If the piece of a t-shirt you want included in your blanket doesn’t fit this size square it’s called a “Fussy Cut,” requiring special cutting and sewing. Examples include tank tops, a pocket you want paired with a t-shirt, t-shirt graphics in places too high or low on a shirt, and so forth.
Cheryl Tabor with T-Shirts to Treasures™ says, “It’s a great product for the family to have, to hold onto the special memories that are associated with the clothing… We work directly with funeral homes, so they can offer the product to their families.”
Watch the video from NFDA and learn more at www.TShirtsToTreasures.com.
Recorded at the 2014 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Convention and Expo in Nashville, Tennessee by Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®, host and author of the award-winning TV show and book, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die.