Pets and Quilts - What do you do?
 

Hi Everyone - I really want to make a full sized quilt for my bed but I am wondering what your experience is when it comes to having pets on your bed. Our dog sleeps on our bed at night as well as her daily naps. My husband romps with her at least once a week there, too.

Can anyone tell me how well your quilts hold up when a pet is allowed on the bed? FYI - kicking her off is no option. :) She's been there for the last 7 1/2 years and we're not interested in changing that.

Thanks for your advice!

I don't know about dogs, but I have enough cat fur that my kids think I can use it for batting! ROFL My cats sleep with us every night and they do play 'pounce on the toes' but that is it, nothing that would harm a quilt other than to cover it in fur.

Gota love the little furry ones :)

I have a small doggie quilt that the canines know to stay on at the foot of the bed. It seems to work for us. :)

My dog also sleepsnaps on the bed. The only ones that haven't held up is a yo-yo quilt and an old quilt with weak seams. I was able to repair the old quilt, but the yo-yo is in the "another life" box. One thing I did was to lay a lesser favorite quilt backside up for Major to lay on (and I gave him his own pillow with a denim pillowcase). I remove these when I want the room to look nice (and he's not on it). Saved my good quilt and my disposition and Major too. Good luck!

Major is a 75 pound shepherd/doberman mix. Great dog just not sensitive to others desires.

My DD has two large dog's that love to sleep on her bed. When they come here they think the quilts belong to them. There is so much hair they have to be washed sometimes twice to get it all out. I love the dogs, but I put away the ones my Mother hand quilted as I could not stand for her works of art to be torn up. One to the claw's got caught and tore one.

Well my daughter has a dog that sleeps on her bed as well. What I made was a scrappy homespun quilt. I used 6 insquares and did a fancy applique in the center. What I use for her and many of the quilts I know will be washed many times is thermore batting. I buy the queen size and cut it for smaller projects. Since the thermore batting is a very thin polyester but is does not migrate thru the quilt top. It washes well and can be used in clothing since it is light weight but warm. Her quilt has held up really well. I am getting ready to do another in black red and white for her. I hope this helps. Luann

to answer your question, I do not have pets so it is not a problem. However I would either close the door to the bedroom, (but that is not an option for you) or I would wait until I no longer had a pet to put my quilt on the bed. People love their animals and I understand, but unfortunately some times it does present a problem.

LOL It sounds like a fun arrangement. I would make an easy quilt and share it with your beloved dog. When it is worn and gone then it is time for another one. If you want to make something special maybe use it as a wall hanging in your bedroom and use coordinating fabric for an utility quilt on the bed.

My cats live on the quilts downstairs and the quilts are doing just fine after many years of little claws being stuck on occasion. So what's the worst thing that could happen? The quilt wears out and you make a new one.

i cover my comforter with my quilt for my two felines to sleep on my bed and it has held up well all these years of having cats and quilts. they just go together and somehow the cats think the quilts are just for them.:) i keep their nails cut so i have no problems with destructive behavior. one of my cats love to sleep and lounge on my leather furniture but he hasnt scratched nor harmed any of my furniture. i keep kitty quilted pads for them to lounge on my furniture. your quilt should hold up just fine.

I have a saint bernard, and aside from doggie hair making it necessary to wash my quilt more often him laying on them has not posed a problem.... now the kids playing tug of war with him... that is a whole other story :(

I have an old store bought quilt I fold in half and put on the cat's side of the bed. She knows it's hers.

no one would romp on my quilt. when i had my Loki (cat) i had a soft purple blanket throw for him to lay on and a small store bought quilt for summer for him. Now i have three cats and need to put a large blanket over my quilt if i use one. they tend to jump off the bed quickly and use their claws!! so, pretty much no quilts on my bed. I hate that but it's better than having them ruined.

We have three cats and four dogs, and no quilts on our bed. I would keep to wall quilts for our room and only use bed quilts for the guest bedrooms. The cats like the bed in one of the guest rooms so I cover that quilt with a sheet so they can nap without getting hair - or hairballs - on the quilt itself.

The same is true of my german shepherd. No harm done to the quilt...just gets lots of washings.

A quilt isn't a quilt unless your doggie helped you make it.

Like this one I'm trying to pin:

We have 2 dogs and 2 cats. There is always at least one on the bed. Its never been a problem, I just wash them regularly.

Make yourself a scrap quilt and save the heirloom one for the spare room. Scrap quilts are meant to be used and washed frequently. Because I have little invested in them (I use a sheet for the back) except my time, I don't worry about a furry one having a nap there. Quilts should be made to be used and loved with the user in mind. If dogs are a big part of your life, don't spend the time making a hand quilted or embroidered quilt for your bed. A corduroy/denim combination might be a better idea.

I have two labs, a total of almost 200 pounds. They sleep with me and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am fairly certain I was a pack animal in a former incarnation and I know I sleep best with the dogs cuddled against me. So, I make the quilt pattern I want but instead of fancy quilting, I simply meander over the whole top. That allows it to take more of a beating. In the summer, the quilt we used lasted about 10 years. It began to shred at the seams a bit so I took it off and replaced it. My dogs don't chew or damage the quilt other than sharing their hair on it and using the bed for sleeping and naps.

My dogs recline on my bed during the day and sleep with me. They do no damage other than leaving behind dirt, but the frequent washings are too hard on a quilt. My bed is covered in an inexpensive preprinted quilt from a big box store with pretty homemade pillowcases. When I complete a quilt for me, it will go on the couch in the LR and another on the wall in the family room, which has turned into my quilting room. I have a Trip Around the World in a guest room, but they don't get on that bed. Their beds are end to end on on side of my bed, but they sometimes slip over to sleep close to me.

I will not buy an inexpensive quilted cover. The laborers who do those don't work in good conditions and that's putting it mildly.

LOL Martina, I totally agree. The worst thing that can happen is that she has to make a new one.

I don't know how big your puppy is, but both mine share our bed and so far no problems. The yorkie gets a little crazy when she first gets up on the bed, rolling around and such, but they're pretty calm most of the time. Sometimes I'll throw an old sheet on top at night to keep it clean longer. Neither one of them sheds, so that's not a problem either.

Thanks for all the advice!!! If I make a quilt and get 10 years out of it on my bed I'll be happy. By then I probably want another one. I'll make one that I really like but not with applique or hand quilting. It'll be real pretty without the fuss and invested hours.

It's going to be my summer project so I'll be spending time searching for the perfect pattern this winter and spring.

BTW: I have a little Bichon Frise who does not shed but can get excited if the conditions are right!

I have a rather unconventional approach to dealing with the shedding from my two dogs who both sleep on the bed. About twice a week I go over the quilt with a vacuum. The quilts need washing frequently but I have a couple that I rotate and am working on a couple more. None of my quilts are what I'd consider heirloom. I just make them to be used.

I have two dogs and five cats who all seem to think they belong on my bed at any time they wish If something can't stand up to my babies it doesn't belong in my life I have two quilts in my bedroom and two on the furniture in the living room they seem to hold up real well

My four cats love to sleep in our bed on the quilts. I have a brush that I use to remove the fur inbetween washings which is a big help. They don't really do much to the quilt other than leaving their fur on it! Anything in this house is fair game for the cats and we know it :)

Sweet picture!!

We also have a big lab that sleeps with us. I put an old sheet on top of the quilt so when he comes in from outside their isn't dirt or whatever on it. Unfortunately he sheds something terrible so each week when I strip the bed I put the quilt in the dryer for a few minutes to take off most of the hair.

If you keep the dog's nails short, it is generally a non-problem. If you have a 'digger' dog, I would not use flannel for the top, but otherwise, go for it. A quilted quilt will last longer, I'm told, but most of my quilt giftees with dogs had tied quilts and didn't have a problem. I use Cascade 220 wool yarn to tie quilts as it felts nicely and doggy doesn't pull it out (most of the time).

I probably wouldn't make an 'heirloom' quilt. This is the <a href="http://<IMG SRC=" http:="" pic20.picturetrail.com="" vol252="" 1600103="" 3065432="" 207734943.jpg"="" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">quilt I made for my sister and her dog. Her dog was not a digger, but played on it a lot for several years before she passed away. Now 4.5 years later (and shared with 5 cats), it has not yet even needed repair. My point is that you don't have to feel restricted to only doing large pieces. Most of these squares were 2.5 inch finished. This particular quilt was tied and has a Snuggle Flannel (Joann's) back.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL252.../207734943.jpg

My dog helps me sew also. He lays in front of me in my sewing room, guarding me. If the mail lady or UPS shows up, he barks to let me know as I can't hear anything from my sewing room. If I have a quilt on the floor, it's his. He likes my sewing room. He's very careful in there. No romping around or anything. Only place he behaves. I like that he guards me. I feel very safe in my room.

My sister gave her step-daughter a quilt for Christmas years ago and the step-daughter put it in the outside dog house. That was the only quilt my daughter made for her step-daughter. I couldn't believe someone would put a homemade quilt in a dirty, muddy dog house. I felt so sorry for my sister. She died in 2003. She was so upset that Heidi cared so little for her quilt. I was shocked also.

I have three poodles and I DO have older quilts on my bed so I won't stress about them taking one of the "good" ones for their own. If I happen to put a good one on, I add another older one to the top of it so they still don't give me anything to worry about.

I agree that a dog lying on a quilt will not generally hurt it, just leave behind dog hair and smell, so the quilt will have to be washed more often, so keep that in mind. I bought a very expensive quilt that was hand quilted and trained the dog to sleep in his own bed before putting it on our bed. I didn't sleep well with the dog and DH wasn't about to force the change, so I did in order to use the quilt -- and get some sleep! lol. I have another quilt that has been shared with the dogs for years and washed to death with no problems.

I gave up long ago on the notion of keeping anything away from my pets. They sleep with me, eat with me and are the best friends I've ever had. As much as all the fur is sometimes annoying, every rose has it's thorns. I'm fortunate that they allow me to live here. LOL!

Tink sleeps in a queen size bed...and allows me to join her. She doesn't usually do anything to damage it, unless she decides that the bed needs to be plumped and fluffed to her needs.

She usually doesn't stink, due to baths about every other week. So the quilt doesn't need washing as often.

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Our big goofy lab and two long hair cats sleep on every quilt in the house. They hold up just fine. The way I see it, the quilts are made to be used and loved, washing frequently just helps to age them, and if they wear out, then I am justified in making more.

I agree that keeping the pet nails trimmed is helpful. And we brush/bathe/groom our pets frequently to minimize the need to wash the bedding constantly.

RST

Labs were too big to sleep w/us but did nap during the day on our bed. We put a polar fleece blanket on top of our quilt and then an old sheet on top of that. Helped w/their hair and "skin dirt" from going into our bedding. When it was time for the dogs to get off, we'd pull the sheet to the edge of the bed for them to slide to the floor...oh the growling!

My sister and I were given quilts my aunt made years ago. Her's suffered a little pet damage because her dog accidentally chewed a corner of it while it was hanging over the edge of the couch and emma was chewing on a bone. Emma had no idea she was catching the quilt...she lost the corner of an afghan the same way. My quilt is not falling appart from years of use and washings, but no pet damage per-se. I don't have dogs, but have had cats for over 15 years (6 of them now) and they make sure the quilts don't run away while I'm off at work :)