I have made a number of quilts for children and for the elderly. Both give quilts a good work out but I have not done anything different for these quilts that I do for other quilts. Good fabric, good thread and away you go. Guess I might avoid a patter with small pieced cuts but goodness there are so many patterns to choose from. Go for it and enjoy the ride. Besides, when they "wear it out" they will come to you and ask for another because their quilt was so special and from you!

I agree with Tartan and the others that using good fabric batting and thread will hold up find so that the quilts will hold up to the wear and tear as well as the washing that the quilts will need. As an example, I made my son a twin size Irish chain quilt when he was about 11-12, somewhere in there. The quilt never left his bed, was washed umpteen times, went to the beach with him, survived his moves and at 22-23, when he came back home for a short period of time, the quilt came too and still looked pretty good. The one regret I have is that I used a cheap, thin, poly batting, which disassembled over time, however, I know that many of the baby quilts I have made with Warm & Natural cotton batting have held up well over time. I'm sure that although the children are boisterous, after all what child isn't?, the quilts will hold up for some time.

The ones that are not able to . . . .

For the quilts that will be "extra loved", that is when I breakout the cotton/ poly fabric. Cotton for softness and polyester for durability. Since they will probably be washed alot, I want them to wear like iron.

I made a quilt for my little niece. At the same time and with elements from the quilt, I made her a backpack with a pocket. Her Mom tells me she takes it Everywhere. It even went to the hospital with her with her favorite book in the pocket. If she spends the night at Grandma's house, she packs her quilt and book and they go too. I also made her a little pillow that fits in the bag. It is wonderful rfor the airplane too and if the family gets stuck somewhere she just spreads her quilt on the floor and lays on it with her pillow.

Warm and Natural is easy to wash, because it's sturdy due to the scrim. They give directions on the label -- soak, squeeze out excess water and dry in the dryer on warm. They say not to spin the batting, so I press it between two big towels before putting in the dryer. I've heard other people say they have spun theirs. It comes out nice and unwrinkled.

I've inquired to both Hobbs and Quilter's Dream about pre-washing their batting, and their reply was that they don't recommend it. But on the Hobbs packages of Heirloom batting (but not on Tuscany bats), they recommend experimenting to see if you prefer a preshrunk or unshrunk batting, so that's a mixed message; but they don't give directions. I think the important thing is to be careful and support the weight of the bat when it's wet. I've used the same method as with Warm and Natural to prewash a Hobbs Silk batting; I was careful, but it did stretch some in spots (but I was still able to use it).

Quilter's Dream wool batting is thermally bonded, and the representative said it can't be exposed to heat or it will flatten out. I remember someone posting about Hobbs Tuscany Wool, that it dissolved when she tried to presoak it. But the wool bats are said to shrink less, so I haven't tried prewashing any wool bats. I may try it with a smaller Hobbs wool and see how it goes.

This story touched my heart!

hmmmm..... My 2 cents is - make quilts using each child's favorite colors and/or themes. In a few years they are going to have all new favorite everythings!....and you'll have the pleasure to make them new updated quilts to love!

My only further suggestion is to use a bias binding and sew both sides by machine. Some say the bias binding wears better. I always sew the binding to the back first, then wrap to the front, pin and machine stitch using a blind hem foot (or stitch in the ditch foot) setting my needle to the right to catch the edge of the binding. I use a thread that matches the backing in the bobbin as most of the time that line of stitching falls just to the outside of the binding on the back and no one even notices. Good luck. It will be one of their favorites for sure.

Just remember that if poly catches on fire, it melts and gives off noxious fumes. When poly melts on your skin, the burn is far more severe. For quilts for children and the aged, I use Dream Angel - fire resistant batting.

I always quilt more heavily when quilting a quilt for children or one that I know will get heavy use and lots of washes.