weighted textured quilt
 

Finally finished this 7 lb. weighted and textured quilt for my grandson who has high functioning autism. He just sometimes wants a little extra comfort for life's stresses.
He visited for a few days and learned to piece several of the blocks that we used in the quilt. We designed it together and I finished it after he had to leave.
There are lots of fabrics including denim, corduroy, flannel, upholstery, fur and knits, as well as added embroidery, beads, ragging, etc. for more textures. There is fleece across the top for soft texture when sleeping.
Micah chose the sashings to start in dark brown thru light brown to light green to dark green. There were 25 fabrics he selected. It was my job to make these work out for the sashings. I think we made a great team!
Micah cut and sewed the denim, batik and flannel blocks. He started with wanting me to stay right there and soon reached the, I'll call you if I need help, stage. :)

The iris block is cut from the back of a large stitch knit vest. The black block is satin, the red and brown are fake fur stuff. The larger white block is from a finely knit sweater.

That's a wonderful quilt!! Sounds like you two had fun as well.
How is the churn dash coming along? I want to see it :)

Just fabulous!!

Sadly the churn dash got set aside while the need for comfort quilts gets answered. It is at the point where I am sewing the sashings and blocks into rows. Fortunately the winner of the quilt is very understanding about the comfort quilts and I really appreciate that. I have 2 comfort quilts to make now that the autism quilt is done, then I will get back to the churn dash. I'm glad that interest still remains in it's final outcome!!! Thank you for that. Hugs and smiles.

Hmmm will that make the churn dash a UFO when I finally get back to it?

Very nice!

Kool quilt. Time spent with grandson priceless. BrendaK

It's fantastic!

It's an awesome quilt and awesome that your grandson was able to participate. My sister has an autistic grandchild and he's quite a challenge.

terrific quilt and great shared experience

Have any of you used weighted quilts for charity quilts? Are they hard to make? What gives them the weight and is it washable? Maybe this would be too much for a guild project. But, what a valuable project this could be.

Love that quilt and your work with Micah. Isn't being a grandmother the best??

How amazing is that. And such an effort of your part. My sisters grandson has autism and I gave him a quilt I was making for his uncle, my brother. My brother died before the quilt was completed so giving it to Darien was really special. He will not sleep (summer or winter) without it and they live in Florida.

Nope! Sometimes we have priorities that pop up ! :)

No way is it a UFO, just a set aside for now. Grandmama and Micah make a great team. You did a great job getting all the elements and placement very appealing in this quilt.

Wonderful and spending time with Grands is just that...Grand!

sounds very therapeutic

Very nice layout and colors. My oldest grand is 7 YO. I try to use her when possible. She loves to work and help, but she's just not able to do much right now.

It is so nice to have a child/gchild help and want to learn.

I loved reading the story behind your quilt. It touches my heart. And it's a beautiful quilt.

It's a great quilt, made better with the collaboration of your grandson! It will be treasured for as long as he lives.

This quilt was only hard to make in that handling the weight was difficult for me with my limitations due to fibro and neck and shoulder issues.
I don't know the proper way to do it, but I added the weight by using extra sheets for lining instead of using batting for the layers. This quilt has 2 cotton sheets plus one flannel sheet between the pieced top and the fleece backing.
To make it easier on me, I did the outline quilting of the top to the two cotton sheets, making sure I secured around each block to help keep some of those fabrics from fraying, such as the flannel, cords and denim. I used a fancy stitch that did a zigzag to either side of center to help hold those edges. I hope that will make it washable on gentle cycle.
After quilting the top 3 layers, I then layered all 5 and quilted them together using a much sparser pattern that just holds all the layers together in enough places that it holds together as a unit, sort of like a tic-tac-toe pattern across the whole thing, and around the edges. Then I added the binding.

I have heard of some people using some kind of bead to add weight but I don't know about how that works. I think that a classroom for special needs would welcome a donation of weighted quilts as a guild project. I know my daughter is a special ed teacher and has one in her classroom, as well as I spy matching game quilts.

Your Grandson did a great job picking out the colors. Since he helped make it he is sure to love it for a long time.

Great job!! Sounds like you two made a memory as well as a quilt. That is priceless.

You’re a wonderful grandma! Great quilt!

What an awesome quilt, and how great that Micah got to work on it himself! That will make it all the more special to him.

Fantastic quilt, you and Micah must be so proud!

Great Teamwork!

Wow Linda, that is an awesome quilt! Sounds like you and your grandson had a great time together! Maybe you’ve also added a new quilter to the ranks...well done!

Rob

Micah will cherish this quilt and the time he spent with you forever.

Wonderful quilt really turned out great. Did you use pellets for filling or just various kinds of heavy fabric. I helped a friend make one a few years ago and we did squares and filled each one with pellets for weight. Not fun.

What a fantastic quilt you & Micah put together. He did a great choice with the sashing colors & fabric selections. You've not only made a wonderful lifetime quilt for him but lifetime memories as well.

Beautiful quilt and will be extra special because your grandson had a hand in making it.

Awesome! :)

Wow! What an accomplishment! For both of you. Congrats.

No pellets, I used 2 regular and 1 flannel sheet instead of batting. Those plus the fleece backing and the fabric mix in the top added up to 7 lbs.

i think it's fantastic your grandson helped with design and piecing of the quilt. I didn't know that weighted quilts can be comforting. Donating to an organization that serves autistic kids is an interesting idea.

What a great quilt and fantastic teamwork. I'll bet he will treasure this quilt.

I wanted to just add a few thoughts to this thread. My grandson Micah is 20, and he lives independently, has a job and moved to Oregon from Ohio to be with his partner and to further promote their independence by living where they have wanted to be, rather than sticking close to family. Sometimes the stresses from his job and dealing with people can be a little overwhelming at the end of the day, and that's when he finds himself wishing for the comforts of the weighted quilt and the soothing of textures to feel.
As I said, he is quite high functioning and has learned to manage pretty well. When he asked me about helping him make a weighted quilt, I was honored and delighted to say yes, of course I will. And of course I was so pleased that he was happy to spend that much of his visit back east with us, working on the quilt.
To see first hand the growth in his confidence from that first anxious handling of the ruler and rotary cutter and stitching with the sewing machine, to the point when he said, "You go have a relax with a cup of coffee, Nana, I'll call you if I need help." filled my heart with joy and pride. I had to convince him to even try to cut a piece of fabric and sew it, he was so sure he couldn't do it!!! He was so proud of those blocks he made, as was I!! I made sure every one of them made it into this quilt!

You both did a great job on this quilt.