Remember When. . . a friend needed to fidget?

 "How can I help?" That is a phrase that comes to my mind when I hear someone is in need.  That help often comes at the point of my needle and thread.  This project was one of those times.

One of my sister's good friends, Mary, has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. I had heard that "fidget quilts" are calming and beneficial to people with this condition, so I offered to make one, and recently, my sister, Lee, agreed to work with me on it. Lee and I think very differently which makes working together a fun adventure, and the end product is always better than if we had worked separately. Mom completes the team, adding her creative insight.

Backing

We made the backing by alternating the grey dog fabric with colored textured fabrics; yellow wide-wale corduroy, white non-slip fabric, black velvet, red waterproof fabric with linen texture, fake white fur, and blue flannel. (Nothing silky as Mary does not like it.)

The texture is essential to a fidget quilt, and dogs are essential to Mary. We sourced the texture from my fabric stash and the dogs and batiks from the fabric store. Mom, Lee, and I laid out the design, I sewed it together, and Annie the "Lab assistant" managed quality control and canine character.

Activities

Activity centers ready to be sewn to the top.

We decided on a lap quilt since Mary is always cold. Mom, Lee, and I worked on placing fidget actives at the quilt edges, making it easier for Mary to use them.

The rug flap reveals a dog- it eventually had a large snap for opening and closing.

A hoodie cord was threaded through a channel sewn behind "Life is Good". Mary can slide the cord back and forth while knots keep it from coming loose.

A bean bag was attached to a red circle with bone-patterned ribbon. Once sewn, the bean bag was held to the quilt by a magnet.

A zippered circle conceals a special surprise!

Inside the red circle was fabric with images of dogs like Mary's.

Owl beads slide on a ribbon. Mary has a good friend they call "Owl."

The two crinkle patches were made by enclosing cereal bags between the backing and the patches.

Tada!

To finish the quilt the top was placed on black polar fleece and I quilted each line and activity center. A yellow bias tape was added to finish the edges.

We designed a logo for the back as a signature for our team.

Mary loves the quilt, has it with her almost constantly, and fidgets to her heart's content. It was a bonus working with Mom and Lee. It is always a gift to spend time together, and It stretches my creative thinking in ways that I can't do on my own.