There is a thread on the QuiltArt site about quilts for the deceased. When our profoundly handicapped 3 year old daughter, Hermione Rose, mercifully died, we built her coffin in the shape of a boat, with a tiller that really worked - and her quilt became the sail. The children and their friends painted the boat and made all sorts of things to go inside, including a necklace over 1 metre long made with beads of polymer clay that many people contributed to.
We had an amazing time putting Hermione into her ship, just exactly how the children thought she would be most comfortable, then seventeen people each hammered in a nail to attach the deck. We hoisted the sail with flags on the rigging, attached 3 roses to the bowsprit and sat quietly/danced around with pleasure to admire and ponder. Later we took down the sail, furled it around the mast and laid it on the ship. We drove to the crematorium and launched the ship, lit with birthday cake candles, directly into the flames. Hermione was our viking princess that day.