Granny Mary's Quilt
 

Hi Guys,

I just came here for a bit of a lift, pick me up, sympathy... whatever you want to call it... oh, and a quick bit of advice too!

Granny Mary's Quilt that I finished a few months ago.... and gave to her has gone missing!

I took all the advice I was given and made sure that the label was well and truly sewn on the back... I even machine embroidered her name onto one of the blocks... but it has gone!

I have spoken to the nursing home who have said that they are sorry but there is nothing they can do. When I said that "nothing they can do" is not acceptable they asked me what I thought they should do. I informed them that there are quilters who could make a quilt but would charge them.... but of course this would not be an item made of love and it would not have any sentimental value.

She then suggested that I make Granny Mary another quilt and bill the home for the fabrics, wadding etc. As there are doesn't seem to be any other option, that is what I will do... but there is a real twist here......

Granny Mary has been going down hill healthwise recently.... quite quickly, she barely eats and is now bed ridden... so any quilt I make will have to be done quickly.

What do I do!

Hugs and thanks for listening!

Hi Guys,

When I say.. what do I do? I am looking for a quick quilt pattern!

Hugs

Caroline

Caroline, I'm so sorry your Granny Mary's quilt has disappeared! Here is the quickest pattern I have seen, and done in the right fabrics would be very nice: http://www.maryquilts.com/quick-strippie/ I think you could sew this up in a day or just a couple of evenings.

This happened to us with a quilt for my dad - His nursing home was quite helpful in that we looked in the laundry and then peered into the other patients rooms - we finally tracked it down - someone else had taken the label off and then used permanent marker to write their name on it lol Luckily he had been there long enough that the aids knew it was his quilt and was able to get it back - good luck and prayers for Granny coming your way

I realize that the quilt is special especially now that she is getting sicker - If you dont have time for another one make her a couple of nice pillow cases - just a suggestion

Sorry to hear the quilt has gone missing. A split rail fence quilt is quick and pretty.

for those that want to see the original quilt, here's a link http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t163723.html
i'm sorry to hear that it has gone missing :(
the patterns suggested by the other posters should work up well

I am so sorry to hear the her quilt went missing. Good luck and prayers.

So sorry to hear about the missing quilt. IMHO a 9 patch is very quick & easy pattern

When my Mom had things like that come up missing the nursing home would pay for it. It won't bring it back but would help by supplies to make another one . Hope they will do that for you.

I am so sorry to hear this. I have been told not to take quilts to nursing homes because someone always takes them. Would hate for you to go to all that work and it be taken again. You really makes you wonder what has happened to the human race. How sad.

I'm so sorry this has happened to you and espically Mary, a labryinth is a fast pattern but I fear it would go missing also its sad but it so often happens to our loved ones If you have a quilt in your home with health issues failing I would take that to her.

Have you taken a walk around and peeked into the rooms? Not uncommon for other patient to shoplift them. Some just see something pretty and take the stuff.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your kind words.

Yes.... every room has been searched and the Laundry deny ever having seen it so it has obviously gone walkabout!

I want to make her another as she just love holding on to something... it is comforting for her!

The nursing home have suggested that as a gesture of goodwill they will pay for the materials to make another.... so I will eventually send them the bill for the fabrics!

Hugs

Caroline

What a shame. If your MIL's health is declining quickly, and you want to get something to her TODAY, then you might consider <gasp> buying a soft and beautiful throw, rather than making a quilt. If it gets lost/stolen, you can just buy another, and she will still have something to hold and enjoy. At this stage of her life, I think she will appreciate the love behind the gift and seeing that you care, and the difference between something hand made and store-bought will not matter.

Caroline. I'm so sorry this happened to you and Granny's quilt. It just boggles my mind that in a nursing home of all places, people feel they can take what they want, knowing it's not theirs to take, and take it from some elderly person who really needs the comfort of that item. My heart goes out to you.

A snowball 9-patch is fast and pretty too. I also think the Yellow Brick Road Is a fast one. I'm sorry her quilt was lost. The same thing happened to an afghan I crocheted for my mother. It is upsetting, but it happens a lot.

Well for starters the facility clearly has a security issue , that should not be taken lightly by the staff. I would inform the adminisration if the staff has not already done so. There should be some kind of camera used for security purposes. if you know the dates that the quilt was last seen . I would ask that the least they should do is review those tapes from the time period. Some might be reluctant to use manpower this way ... but it is a theft and should be treated as such. It it begs the question as to other issues in the facility if this is not treated seriously.
At mimimum there should be compensation for your materials, though that hardly is the real issue.
An interesting note is that this happened when you Granny was in a declining condition, and it sure would appear that someone took advantage of the situation, which would also be of great concern to the administration.

have you called in the police yet? theft is theft!

Hi Liz,

The Nursing Home have said that there is no point in calling the police as they have bigger things to worry about....!

DH said that he is worried that there may be a thief working with vunerable people!

I will wait to see what they have to say in a day or so!

Hugs

Caroline

P.S. To everybody else.... thank you for caring about Granny Mary!

Every time I hear of this sort of theft my blood pressure boils. Don't you wish you could put a theft sensor (like dept stores) on things that would go off with thousands of volts of electricity if someone tried to walk off with it.

My suggestion would be to make her a quilted shawl.

Prayers to you and your family.

I'm so sorry this happened. I can't imagine how you must feel. I made a quilt for my Mom last year and she keeps it on the back of the couch in her assisted living apartment. I don't think she uses it as a quilt since its very warm in her room. I would be heart broken if something happened to it.

So sorry to hear about Grannys missing quilt and her declining health. Perhaps make a new quilt using a panel as the center and then go from there. You could finish this in an evening.

hugs and prayers, don't have a good answer for you sorry. You have a kind heart so any thing you do will be the right thing.

This has happened to use with everything from nylon night gowns to fleece throws with her name embroidered in 2" letters. We now take pictures of everything and have them include it in MILs file. It at least verifies what was there and what is now missing. SIL gave her mom a nightie (expensive one) when she was there and it disappeared before Mom got to wear it that night. I think the lack of accountability is just terrible.

Make Granny Mary another quilt and include family pictures on both sides -- and have her name on both sides -- that way it will be less attractive to folks with light fingers. (I made MIL a pillow several years ago with family pictures and although the staff have complimented her on the pillow, it is the one handmade thing that has not disappeard.)

I am so sorry that happened to you and Granny Mary. It is just so incredible, but some people would steal the eyes out of your head if they could get away with it. I think I would have a very hard time leaving anything of value (sentimental or monetary) there in the future. If it were me, I don't think I could make and leave another quilt with her there. I'd go for a nice blanket. :( Too bad. Just too bad and too sad. But remember that whatever we put out into this world, both good and bad, returns to us tenfold. You are a good person, and good will come to you. The thief will also get his/her just reward, in time. Maybe the thief will see the connection when it happens....

I'm so sorry aboutn the quilt disappearing. It's difficult in a nursing home to keep track of items; sadly other residents often get confused about what is theirs, and sometimes it's even a visitor that feels justified in taking something that isn't theirs. I just made a lap quilt using a pattern from The Quilter's Cache. It's "square within a square 2" and is a very fast and easy quilt to make. Makes a checkerboard background and then a 6 1/2" square of a focal fabric in the center.

My Grandmother is in nursing home and I am always finding other residents clothing and other things in her room. I always take them back to the nurses station so when I can't find something of hers I go straight to the station. One day all her panties were missing and she didn't have a pair on. I do her laundry and there was none in the hamper. Go figure. Come to find out she had a accidents and they were in the laundry room. I also fear that one of her quilts will come up missing, she was a quilter and had 3 quilts that she swapped out on her bed at home. So when she went to nursing home, I put one on her bed there and keep the other 2 at my house. I rotate them when they need to be washed.

I am so sorry to hear that Granny is not doing well. I hope that it is ok to share a little personal info about my Grandmother here. She also quit eating and drinking. She told the dr. that she had not given up, so she adjusted some of her meds and gave her appetite stimulate. 2 days later I go to visit and she is sitting in chair drooling and can't wake up. I called for help to get her to bed and she was lifeless. I had them call for ambulance to transport her to ER. By this point she did not even know who she was. Well, come to find out she was severly hydrated and had an urinary infection that had gone septic. She is better now. So if your Granny has urinary problems might be something to check on. BTW - I told the dr. I thought she was dehydrated and asked her if a urinary tract infection might be the problem - but what do I know.

I will keep Granny and your family in my prayers and thoughts. Please don't stress over this quilt being lost and just focus on enjoying the time you have left with Granny. (hugs)

This is not the first time I have heard of this kind of thing happening at nursing facilities.
Either some other resident or staff has taken it.
I insured the quilt I gave my in-laws for just this purpose and then I let it go.
So far so good. It's been over a year and when I visited last, it was still there. I think the main issue is my mother-in-law is still attentive and not "out of it." I just hope the rest of my family down there pays attention and removes the quilt if it appears at risk once Chris is not as independent!

I did decide some time ago that if it's gone, it's gone.
Mean people get their due without my help...

I am so sorry that this happened to you. It just makes me downright angry. Don't have any suggestions for you but wanted to let you know that I so sympathise with you.

how low can you get, stealing from someone in a nursing home. Maybe you could make her a quick fleece throw, it would be soft and cozy.

The home could address this problem if they cared. It would be very simple to do a sting operation, a hidden camera and a valuable item, say a watch, planted in a room. Then they could fire the thief.
But I really doubt they would ever care enough to do that.

With all the GPS technology out there, you would think they could create a chip or something to sew into a quilt to help locate a quilt when it goes missing.

I am so sorry it disappeared but the "nothing we can do " is unacceptable. I realize their job is hard and taking care of patients is a priority but they could have at least spent a little time looking and put up a notice and told their caretakers to be on the look out for it.
I don't think the pattern is going to matter much to Granny Mary. As long as she has something you made to cuddle under.
My son(bless his little heart) said he wanted his quilt(his dad got rid of it) because it was warmer than a blanket because it was made with love. That is what is important.

They actually had one at one time . I guess it didn't catch on seems it was discontinued.

So sorry you are having to face this. Recently I made a strip quilt. I took 5 coordinating fabrics, put the one i liked the best into a finished 6 in. strip in the middle and too the other 4 and cut finish 6 in strips x 2 and layed them out light to dark from the center fabric. It turned out pretty and then I quilted it down the center of each strip and at the seams with a zigzag stitch. I then used the one strip in the center to make the binding and it looks pretty good for a quicky. I just bought the length of the fabric to how long I wanted the quilt to be. I actually did this in 2 Saturdays and had life not interfered I might have gotten it done in one. The I have lots of lefover fabric for my stash.

You have my deepest sympathy.
But what do you want to do?
If the aim is to comfort her with something that shows your love, you could give her one from your home.
She may not know that it is not new, but it will tell her you love her.
Mary Katherine

Prayers for your family...sorry about the quilt

Just a suggestion. I made a lap quilt for my friends Mother's who is in a nursing home. After it disappeared a couple of times she hung it on the wall as art. Her Mother loves it there where she can see it. It won't bring back the missing quilt but an idea for the future.

Sorry to hear about your grandmother's declining health. I have a SIL in NH (age 45), due to her disabilities. She's been there since Oct. Her clothing has gone missing. All of her panties have had to be replaced twice; as well as other clothing. She had several outfits go missing b/f she was able to wear them. She is very short, and I really can't imagine many people being able to wear her pants. But, they were gone. NH has replaced them. First, I thought that they would turn-up. SIL is not able to go into her closet to choose her clothes. I thought that maybe they'd been mistakenly hung in someone else's closet (the ones that had been laundered) that was unable to go into their closet; and didn't realize there was clothing there that didn't belong. But, I guess not. Apparently, this is just a NH problem.

I agree with dunster above. As much as you'd like your grandmother to have a quilt that you made just for her during this time in her life, just buy one that can be replaced... and use the time that you would spend in making another quilt with your grandmother. TIME with her is really the most thing right now; and you will cherish the time when she's gone.

Oh that quilt is lovely. Such a shame it is missing. But I can see why someone would have coveted it. I hope you can make a new one for her quickly.

Post pictures and maybe someone will see the quilt and contact you. It hurts when someone does this.