Rosie Rhine                       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

Rhino Quilting

Phone:     360-213-7019

E-mail:     rhinoquilt@comcast.net

"WHAT DO I DO WITH THE CLOTHES?"

PR:  Quilts Help the Grieving Cope with Loss

When her 35-year-old daughter was brutally murdered five years ago in Alaska, a mother had to decide what to do with her daughter's clothes.  Traumatized by the loss and suffering of her daughter, she commissioned a quilt for her king-size bed out of these clothes.  She was surprised and pleased to see the finished product - a landscape quilt depicting stages of her daughter's life, every picture fashioned from the various fabrics of the daughter's clothes, including the linings, lace, buttons and even collars.

When there is a death in the family, usually the question arises, "What do I do with the clothes?"  Many people are truly confused about this problem at a time when shock and grief may be overwhelming.

Rosie Rhine of Rhino Quilting (www.Rhinoquilting.com) has provided lasting comfort for many grieving families by offering her services as a bereavement quilt maker.  She takes the clothes and transforms them into beautiful quilts, which comfort the bereaved, honor the loved one, and become a treasured heirloom.

Bereavement quilts help to heal loss by being a tangible reminder of the loved one that you can hold in your hands and wrap around you. They also provide an art work to cherish.  Quilts can be fashioned directly from the loved one's clothes, but this is not necessary, according to Rhine. 

Rhine started making bereavement quilts when her company Rhino Quilting first took on the task of turning a huge box of brightly colored dresses into a king-size quilt for a mother whose 35-year-old daughter was murdered.  She made a picture quilt honoring the daughter's life. 

Since then, Rhine has made T-shirt quilts, tie quilts, wall hangings and throws for families that want to preserve something of their loved one in a unique way.  "Before I come up with a design, I try to get a feel for the type of person the clothes once belonged to," says Rhine.  "It is such an incredible feeling to see the transformation from clothes to quilt, and very rewarding to see the gratitude and pleasure expressed when the quilt is viewed."

Scrapbook quilts have become very popular, as are traditional quilts made from the loved one's clothing.  Rhine likes to design memory quilts in a different way, capturing the spirit of the loved one and telling their story through pictures she designs herself, often from provided photos.  The quilt discussed above can be viewed on www.rhinoquilting.com.

Quilts can also be made for the living, honoring rites of passage, anniversaries, special events, or simply collections of shirts or badges.  Again, they can be made from the person's clothing, from outgrown clothes or fabrics special to them, such as jeans, old party dresses, T-shirts, ties, even bridesmaid's dresses.

"I was simply blown away when I saw what Rosie did with a box of clothes!" said Veronika Noize, who purchased two quilts to commemorate her nephew's adoption. "When I saw the quilt she made, it brought tears to my eyes.

www.RhinoQuilting.com was founded in 2007 to provide custom quilting for those people who do not have a quilter in the family.  Its specialty is making bereavement quilts, memory quilts and memorial quilts.

# # #

For more information, please contact Rosie Rhine by phone at

360-213-7019 or by e-mail at rhinoquilt@comcast.net

Photos at: www.Rhinoquilting.com