My dad battled Parkinson's from 1998 and died in 2012. He was in hospitals and nursing homes beginning in late 2004. I became interested in machine embroidery in or around 2008. Took also quilting classes. Long story short, I made two queen size quilts in hospitals and nursing homes. I pieced row after row in dad's room one day into the night. Nurse kept asking me if I wanted to spend the night. "No, I am going home here shortly." At 1:00 am I replied that yes, I would like sheets and a blanket, pillow, taking her up on her offers finally. I got all but the last three rows done in that one hospital stay for my dad. I would spread it out over his bed as he was sleeping heavily. He finally woke up, and asked me "is that for your bed?" So he was released and went back to the nursing home located in a nearby town. It had a fabulous quilt shop! I worked on it some more in his room. Well, decided to increase the size so made a trip to the local quilt store, cut more squares. Next hospital trip months down the road the last row or two were sewn on. I called it the hospital/nursing home quilt. In the meantime my mother entered nursing homes and assisted living facilities as well. I had taken another quilt class in the town, LQS where she was located, a pineapple quilt. In 2011 they were joined in the same facility in our city, and a year later daddy passed away. But before he did, one night while he and my brother were watching TV in the day room, I sandwiched that first quilt on the floor, and got it all pinned, ready to sew the rows in water soluble thread. Rolled it up, put it away until "whenever". Three months after daddy passed, mother had a stroke. She was admitted in the hospital for 15 days in the most wonderful room, with an extended area of a small dining table !!!!!, a fold out bed, and actually a restaurant downstairs. Needless to say I rolled my machine in, and the day before she was released to go back to the nursing home, I had not only the rows sewn down with water soluble thread, but had FMQ feathers all over this queen size quilt.
At the nursing home she at the time did not have a roommate and I wanted to monitor her daily, so what better way to do that by bringing my machine and quilt, cut and sew the binding. Finished it. Then began adding on the the pineapple quilt and got it all done, row by row. This story goes on....ditto, quilted it by rows, with a little FMQ inside patches here and there. Finished it in another hospital in 2014, a specialty hospital in another town for wound care. So, I have two batik quilts that were done in hospital rooms and nursing home rooms. Thanks to rolling totes!