A couple more ideas ....
** 3D Flying Geese
** 3D Pinwheels

never heard of this before, always learning ssomething new on this board

i agree..... i've been fortunate enough to NOT have experience with this as of now.... but living in a retirement comm.,,,, some of my dear friends will be touched by this... it's valuable information that i will pass along to my quilting friends and groups... thanks for opening my eyes to yet another idea to bring comfort...

After seeing the response with the pictures, I'm sure you've gotten a lot of ideas. Before I saw the pictures, I was thinking of the things they put in a child's book for small muscle training.
I think Velcro could be good, but you might have to sew both piece in place at one end. How about a mini bean bag? It could be stuffed with small navy beans or even split peas. What about sewing on a baby's toy of some sort? I'm thinking of a ring with other rings on it that could move. Maybe even a small gel teething ring would work.

what a great idea! my mother died before i was a quilter. i would give her puzzles, clothespins, and anything to keep her hands busy. I would make some of these if someone knows where we can donate them.

Thank you so much for opening this subject. I have learned a lot and want to make some of these to donate. Our guild makes nursing home and Linus quilts, this may be something we want to look into as a group.

Thanks for the picture of the lovely quilt you made. It gives me some more ideas.

What wonderful ideas! My quilt guild is making walker bags for our Christmas project and I'm going to make some of these as well.

I'll try and take a picture of mine when I get home. A WONDERFUL quilter on this board sent one to me for my grandmother. She ended up passing away before she needed it. There are small stuffed animals like what you'd find on a mobile and little keychains and other things that are sewed on. It's an odd looking lap piece, but I've seen many patients that really love them.

Thanks for this link! I am pinning it to my Pinterest board, hoping I never need to find it again...

Show us what you come up with.

My daughter made one of these for her grandmother who was in a nursing home and suffering with Alzheimer's. She made it out of bright colored fleece. Among the attachments that Grandmother seemed to enjoy most was the variety of ribbon, rickrack, lace, and other trims. The grograin ribbon had a rough texture, the satin was very smooth, etc. Unfortunately Grandmother wasn't able to use it very long before her death, but we left it with the nursing home to be washed and passed on to another resident. It's a wonderful way to help keep their hands busy.

this is a great idea for nursing homes that are qualified for rehabilitation.... think maybe I need to make one - thanks to everyone for sharing....

Here is a picture I took at the Largo (Florida) quilt show earlier this year. They made what they called "tactile stimulation" quilts or fidget quilts. I thought it was a great idea.

These are wonderful ideas. I wish I had known about them when my mother was suffering from this disease. Think I will also make some and donate them in her memory.

Lovely! I sure wish I had known about one for my mother. She suffered with the disease for 5 years, spent the final year in a Nursing Home because my Dad got physically sick taking care of her, and died in 2000. Once I get caught up on the orders I have right now and the presents I'm making, I'm going to try one.

I made a quilt for giving with a lot of the zippers I had accumulated over the years. I inserted the zipper in a quilt square, then attached it to a backing square so they could unzip the zipper and have a place to put toys, etc. Did this with about every square using various size zippers. We aren't allowed to use buttons or other embellishments that could be pulled off and swallowed.

Go to a kid's site and look for a learning blanket.

OR just put zippers, velcro, buttons, snaps, ties, and stuff on a piece of material with a backing. Make it up as you go.

All Excellent ideas and samples.

i made one for my friends MIL..nothing fancy, but i made it to look like a fancy sheet..had the piping and top. beautiful robyn pandolf fabric. and i made it just to cover her from waist to toes. i used a satin for the top part. the whole time she was in the hosptial recovering from a hip fracture..she fussed over the hospital top sheet. so i just decided she needed something feminine and pretty to fuss with.

i also passed on my walker caddy to her, unfortunately she can't remember what the walker is for, or how to use it. it is so sad...

That was a good idea and so nice of you to do that.

It must make you feel really good to be able to pass things on to people that need them even if she doesn't remember. I have a male friend that has that and I want to try and do one of these in manly things even though he's not really handy around the house but while he can still remember a lot of things this might be good for him. It's a very thoughtful idea.

thanks for the wonderful ideas

My Mom had alzheimer's and lived with us for 2 yrs before she passed. I wouldn't put in zippers or anything too rough to the touch.
Mom's skin was thin -which made it bruise & tear easily. When she swung out of the front seat of the car one day, her sweater rubbing on her skin which caused a large skin tear on her elbow. After that I had her in over size faux suede long sleeve shirts. No more skin tears & she loved how they felt

This is a quilt that could be made of many different fabrics with different textures such as corduroy,toweling fabric, velvet,fleece. Also you can add small loops of fabric from scraps of satin, lace, ribbon, prairie points , ruffles. Anything a patient could fidget with. Hope this helps. Peep

Thanks for that piece of advice. I also have thin skin and can understand what a problem that can be.

Laces and ribbons I have lots of to sew on the quilt. Thanks for the tip.

i keep thinking of Marie Montessori toys...where little fingers are kept busy with opening and closing zippers, buttons, tying shoes..etc.

Some residents focus on textures with a constant circular rubbing. A blanket with blocks of different textures (corderoy, minki, satin, velvet etc.) would be helpful along with the zippers buttons and button hole plackets for them to focus on otherwise they tend to undress themselves.
For my underground railroad program my friend and I made 12 blocks with the pattern pieces haveing textures as varied as what I've mentioned pluse fake fur. My intention was to 'show' the blind residents the blocks. The same idea would work for fidget blankets. ;) I hope I've helped you on your loveing venture. Thank you for your effort :thumbup:

Sorry for your loss. Hugs to you and yours. BrendaK

Hi, I have made many fabric books for alzheimer sufferers.The thing to remember is to make sure any buttons or other fastenings are really securely fastened.I backed all the pages so that the stitches were hidden.Velcro is great to use as it can be ripped open and closed easily,but again must be secure at one end.I also liked to use things like ribbons and lace.One thing that proved popular was suspenders, don't know if you call them that in America, the fasteners to hold up ladies stockings.Things like that help to jog the memory too,not just for the ladies ---for the men too ! Anything tactile, like velvet or soft leather is good also. I've been searching for photographs of the books I've made , no luck so far,We are in the middle of packing to move house after twenty three years,therefore things are in a bit of a muddle. Good luck with your project, you will be blessed by the help and comfort you will give with the blankets. Love Letty

THESE ARE SOME NEAT IDEAS. I HAVE A SHOEBOX FULL OF ZIPPERS AND A BUTTON BOX FULL OF BUTTONS, EYELETS. RIBBONS AND LACE. I DO QULTS FOR CHARITY AND THIS IS ANOTHER ONE TO KEEP MY HANDS BUSY.

What a wonderful project. I need to share this with my quilt group for our local area. Thanks for sharing great ideas.

Our quilters at the local senior center made several. they consisted of 5-6 in squares. Some squares had small stuffed animals, plastic dish scrunch, hair scrunches, empty thread spools sewed on and some of the squares were of furry fabric.

Thank you for this link. I just visited it and think this is a wonderful idea. Frequently volunteering at the local nursing home, I can see there are many there who could use one of these. I think I see several in my not too distant future. I may even make it a group project for my quilt group.

Glad to hear that. It is so sad that there are so many people with this problem. It makes us all realize that we may have to look forward to that as we age. Let us hope that God will bless us and we shall skip that part of our life. Hope you enjoy making the fidget blankets. Cathie

I agree with you 29Cathie ... it's not a pleasant thought. In the meantime, we can help to make the lives of those who are inflicted just a little better. And too, remember their families and loved ones, as all too often, they do more suffering. It's a tough time ... I know, as my Mother had alzheimers.



On the upside, for now ... we all need to sew and enjoy every minute of it ..... and maybe we should be making our personal Fidget Blanket, to be prepared for when we need it and cannot do it!!!! :lol:

I just saw this and it is so cool! Thank you for posting it! I worked with Special Needs children in our local schools for many years and see so many great possibilities for this in the classroom and at home! I think especially of kids in wheelchairs who cannot see nor talk. How cool this would be for them to explore with their hands all day long! I think of one little kiddo with autism who loves to touch everything! I'm retired now, but I plan to make these to give to the classrooms soon! Many thanks again for directing us to this wonderful idea!

This is a great post...I never heard of Fidget quilts for adults. This would be a great charity lap quilt for the local nursing home.

fidget blankets are a really great idea...they could serve so many diseases....wish I could have seen it sooner, tho...