Please don't be scared away by the charts and so on for making these quilts -- it's not an exact science! I have made some really quick-made weighted items for a local group that serves traumatized children, and many of them are comforted by the weight. Our Project Linus chapter has given them weighted pouches, weighted "shawls" (so to speak), as well as a blanket made with the folded sheets method and one made with plastic pellets. They have all been very effective.

I considered the folded sheet method, but I thought 1. it was expensive to make, and 2. it would require a lot of washing and refolding of the sheets whenever it was washed. I also didn't want to invest in the plastic (washable) pellets, but if I were making one for a loved one, that's the route I'd go.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions...

You can buy the plastic pellets on ebay for a reasonable price...and they are washer safe. Of course, you should test them first, but I did and am happy with them. Here is a url that works today

http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-Pounds-of...item257835d3d8

I ordered the pellets from craftpellets.com They also show you how to make the blanket. I am going to make one for my adoptive son who is autistic.

The weighted blankets are great. You may also want to look at the weighted vests. I worked in special ed with autistic kids for a year between retiring from my real job and working where I am now. The vest was great. Autistic children can be a challenge but so sweet at the same time :) I loved the 2 I worked with . . . even though I got hit, kicked, pinched, etc. more than once. There was just something so sweet inside those kids and every little obstacle that they overcame meant so much! Best to you!!

I use to make open pockets on vest/shirts that the therapist could put bean bags into to add weight. I made the bean bags out of double knit and filled them with corn. (I could get feed corn from the farm store)

I've made two of these and used poly pellets bought at Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Hobby Lobby has 1# bags and Michaels 2 # bags. Use coupons as this can get expensive. Michael's will accept JoAnns coupons. You will also need some poly fill to keep the pellets in place while you sew the seam. The machine doesn't like hitting a pellet it goes into overload. I used 10% of the child's weight plus 1# as that is what the OT recommended. You will need a small kitchen scale to measure small amounts of pellets as you need to divide the pellets into each square. I also found a funnel to be of great help. Don't be surprised if you are sweeping up pellets months after you made the blanket. Good luck.

Very interesting information - thank you.

I made one for my great grandson in Missouri and sent it to him about a year ago. I used old sheets rolled up to weight it and would suggest making the quilt using the directions on the Linus blankets web site. My grandson uses it at home and told me when I visited at Thanksgiving how much he liked it. But I had trouble rolling the sheets and keeping them rolled so would suggest tying them with the torn edges for I tore the old sheets. Good luck for this REALLY WORKS.

I found poly beads at Joann's. They are in the craft department.

My church quilting group has made two of these. I believe they bought the poly pellets at Wal Mart.