My MIL is in an assisted care facility. She has dementia. Still knows everyone, just can't remember a lot of other things. From things I've read here & some other places I have been thinking of a quilt to make for her. Would like your input on my idea.

I would like to take pictures of each family member, print them onto the printable fabric, embroider that person's name under the picture, and use each of those as a square in the quilt design. I know she would cherish this gift & hopefuly down the road it will help her have some bright moments as her memory of people starts to go.

Several questions come to mind:
How well do the printed fabrics hold up to laundering? Is there a product I should use to help "set" the ink?

I don't embroidery & don't have an embroidering machine. Are there people who do this (I would expect to pay). Should I look locally or are there people here you would recommend?

I have plenty of time. This quilt would be for either Mother's Day 2011 or my MIL's birthday June 2011.

What do you think? I appreciate your thoughts & ideas.

I don't want to be morbid, but I urge you to re-think that you have plenty of time. My father started with slight dementia and a year later was dead from Alzheimer's. Don't delay in making this quilt so she will have time to cherish it. My avatar was to be Daddy's sampler. I didn't finish it in time.

are you buying pre treated fabrics to do photos on or doing your own?? if your own, look at
www.dharmatradingco.com for bubble jet set and rinse products.

I'd move quick on this also, never know how health can take a quick turn.

If seeing relatives at the holidays can take fabric markers, follow isntructions on the package, and have loved ones write there name, or words of encouragement, then follow above advise for photos, think several ways to do this.
Wash at home for the best results.

Take Care, know how it is to face tough situations.

You might also want to check with the nursing home. My husband's grandmother's home recommended that people not have things like this because they launder them so often and things disappear very easily.

You might consider a wall hanging where it wouldn't need to be washed but could be hung where she could see it every day.

I am sorry that you didn't have time to give your quilt to your Daddy. You have given me food for thought, though we can never know what God's timeline is for us or for our loved ones. And I know this from personal experience, having lost my Daddy within 4 months of his cancer diagnosis, my Momma withing 3 months of hers, and just this week, my dear sweet stillborn stepgreat-nephew. I do the best I can with what I have, one day at a time. (((hugs)))

Don't know enough about pretreated fabrics vs doing my own.
Thank you for the link - I will definitely research it.

Great idea, seeings how we will be spending Christmas day with my husband's family. I can have them do this then. Plus, they will probably like being a part of this.

I had thought of this, and probably will check with them before getting too far into this project. Thanks for the suggestion.

I posed this idea to my husband & he thought a lap quilt would be better. I think I will see what his brother & sister think, and if it is ok with the nursing facility. Thanks!

be careful with that thought. My gram is in a facility and had her hand quilted polyester quilt with her. The soap and how they wash things nearly destroyed it. The back wasn't polyster and is tattered and torn in places. Luckily the front is what it is and I was able to save it but can never use it because of the condition. I bought her a quilt at Wal Mart and put a flannel sheet on the back to make it heavier and quilted on the lines to make it all work and i embroidered her name in big letters on each side...who cares what happens to that but my grandmothers quilt is irreplaceable.

this is not to say that it happens in all facilities, but my mother had every nice thing she had 'taken' (i don't want to say stolen).
even her slippers and nightgowns and pretty candy dish. we don't know if it was workers or visitors, but they were all missing.
i would be careful about leaving something of such great sentimental value, even on a wall. pity, isn't it?

I would go ahead with the quilt and have faith that it will be respected as hers. You may want to make a block with a pigma pen stating who it belongs to and when it was made and sign it. Make sure the block is on the front of the quilt and sewn and quilted into the quilt. I believe this would help with the 'security' of the quilt as being hers. Who would want a quilt with all that information on it, that doesn't pertain to them. They wouldn't be able to sell it. Make sure you take a picture of the quilt with your MIL. Also make sure the nursing home know NOT to wash it. Take care of that yourself. Good luck and make sure we see a pic of the finished project. God bless and happy holidays.

re: above

excellent idea!

My MIL is also in an assisted living facility, has dementia but still remembers everyone. I would hesitate to make her a quilt, especially one with pictures printed on fabric. Something like that requires special care when being washed, and that's definitely not the case in most facilities.

Also, as someone else stated, things go missing on a regular basis. I see towels, sheets, even clothes in her room that I know are not hers. I have no idea who has the nice towels we bought her, but she definitely doesn't.

If you want to make a quilt, I'd recommend a wallhanging that doesn't need to be washed. We had a picture made for my MIL with a tree in the middle, and pictures around it with all our names on. She loves the picture and often looks at it and asks about the people in it. Maybe you could do something along those lines?

I am working on a photo quilt, I used a recipie from crafster.com that you use, washing soda, alum downey fabric softener and water and make your own setting rinse. So far I am pleased and the ink did not wash out.
If money is not an issue you can buy pretreated fabric. Look in the tshirt craft area of joanns , the photo fabric there is much cheaper than it is in the same store in the fabric/quilt section,like 6-8 bucks a pack . If you can afford it it is much less work all you do is print ,peel the paper off and then rinse with tap water. crafters images is one I have used and is by far the easiest, and it has held up nicely.

Oh and Do Not let the facility wash it!
I think the 4x6 size was 8.99 for 12 sheets and the 8x10 was 12.99 for 6 sheets. the ones in the quilting section were starting at 18.99 for 5 sheets for the pretreated kind, I did have good luck with the homeade recipie though ,much cheaper but way more time consuming.
Rae