frequently washed quilt
 

Does anyone have any tips on making a child's quilt that will be washed frequently. Should I machine stitch or tie? Should I make wider seams (.5")? Any help would be appreciated.

Machine quilting is much sturdier than tying. The closer the quilting, the sturdier the quilt.

I have 13 grandchildren and some experience with quilts that have been used to drag someone around the house, made into tents, wrestled on... treated pretty hard. The only problems that came up are the two where the mama washed them every other week and after 5 or 6 years they started showing a lot of wear; and the family with the new puppy! :>( The others are still doing well. Here are my tips:

Give the mama instructions: Spray the bad spots and use delicate cycle only (or handwash cycle); never regular cycle! (front loader washers are OK on regular cycle because they don't pull like agitator washers do). Dry in the dryer on slightly lower than regular heat and take out just before really dry... they will be fluffy, not stiff, that way and be totally dry by the time the kids go to bed. Overdrying makes everything badly wrinkled.

Make the binding especially strong: use bias binding whether you make it yourself or not... it makes it so the edge doesn't involve just one or two threads... and will last longer. I'd advise making it yourself because you can make the binding wider that way.... think little hands grabbing it and pullling.

Yes, quilting lines that are close together make for a stronger quilting but it also makes it less soft. Even the ones the kids drag each other around the house on their hard wood floors are doing OK and the quilting is about 4" and 6" apart (check your batting to see what they recommend).

Make both sides interesting. I thought the car side would be a winner with one of my grandsons and was delighted to see vintage "love bugs" displayed on top of his bed only to find out that he told his mama that he liked the sparkly stars underneath because he could look at them and they put him asleep! Another, a girl, told her auntie that she wasn't reading under her quilt, she was saying good night to her animal friends! You never know.....

Oh, also (if you feel this way) make sure to tell the mama that these are quilts for the children to USE and not to be put on display, or "saved" (can you tell I hate that?).

I'm not the world's best quilter by a long shot, but my kid quilts are holding up pretty darn well! PM me if you have any question and I'll try to help. You'll love making kid quilts (you don't have to worry so much about the quilt police).

Avoid using flannel. I recently repaired a flannel quilt for a 5 year old girl. The fabric is so threadbare that it may ltear apart after a few more washings.

My first quilt was a flannel around the world for my granddaughter when she was one. She is 9 now and still uses that quilt and it gets washed with the towels on a regular basis. Quarter inch seams, quilted in the ditch. I used warm and natural and flannel backing. It is in great shape. For grandson who is 4, I made him a flannel and chenille half square triangle quilt (which he calls his triangle blanket) and it has been washed all the time with the towels, quilted in the ditch, and it is in great shape. He brought it with him and we have slept with it. Still cozy. So I guess it depends.

I have always just used the standard 1/4" seam and do machine quilt. I also just throw my quilts in the washer and dryer and they come out great. I do wash them by themselves and use a gentle cycle in the washer and low heat in the dryer. The more you wash a cotton quilt, the softer they get. My "TV" quilt is about 10 years old and although faded it is so soft I wouldn't even think about replacing it.

I machine quilt and bind my quilts and toss them in the washer whenever they need it.

I use 1/4 inch seams , machine quilt and machine bind. I find the more quilting the better on heavy use quilts.

I hand pieced a Grandmas Flowergarden,approx. 20 years ago. long story short,GD just crawling,fell in love with it. When finished I gave it to her. Remember hand pieced and hand quilted. She is married and 20 something. Sstill takes it every where with her. Beach,picnics and of course when she married, her mother said that quilt was one of the first things that was picked to go. I love that Girl. So just use your usual care and do the best you can. Jo

Like regular cotton, flannel comes in different qualities. It can be thin and prone to pilling, or it can be warm and robust. Unfortunately, I think it's harder to tell whether you have a good flannel, but I've heard good things about the flannel sold by Connecting Threads. Don't avoid flannel entirely, just be careful about the flannel you use.

I agree about the flannel. If the new flannel is very soft and thin, avoid it like the plague! However, if you can find heavier flannel, grab it!

When I make things for dogs (think scratching and dragging), I use 1/2" seams and make my stitches a bit smaller. I also make sure the fabric is sturdier cotton (not stiff, just heavier). My point is, if it can stand up to dogs "digging" at it, it can stand up to just about anything.

i don't quite get the 'avoid flannel' statement---i have 5 neices & 3 granddaughters (and a few of their friends) who all have 'drag around- picnic-sleep over- build forts- never leave home without them' quilts---every single one of them have a flannel side- a couple have flannel as parts of the tops too. they love their quilts- they live with their quilts- in over 10 years i've only had to repair one...it tore on a nail-
i double stitch some seams- if i think they are in an area that will take alot of pulling/pressure/abuse. other than that- i use good quality fabrics- nice, heavy double sided flannels, good strong thread, machine pieced, machine quilted- poly batts that hold up well through lots of abuse & lots of laundering. I've never (restricted) their laundering habits...i know at least a couple of them are going to the laundrymat & tossed in with everything else- in big triple loaders...the quilts take it just fine. they get washed with a regular cycle- they get tossed into the dryer- then they go make a new fort- or have a picnic- or go camping...a couple of the girls wait at the dryer for their quilt to come out (one i know of) has to have it (sneaked into the laundry) when she is un-aware---like when at school...I've always told them- use them- if they wear out i will make them a new one. :D

On my first quilt, I used flannel...I was so afraid that the pieces would come apart, after I stitched in the ditch, I didn't think it was enough and did a decorative machine stitch on top of it. That quilt is not going to come apart!