Fidget Quilt

As part of the FFFC group, I made this quilt to follow a challenge which called for using 3 colors opposite on the color wheel + have lots of texture. My biggest stash of textured fabric was in blue, so that determined my colors. I finished the top on time [many months ago]. Eventually I quilted it. However, the real problem for me is putting on the binding. In this case I needed to sew it all my machine because this quilt will [hopefully] get a lot of handling.

I remember someone telling me that her idea of a really great baby quilt is one that gets totally worn out. I will hope the same for this quilt.

I got the idea for making a 'Fidget Quilt' while doing little quilts for the Alzheimer's Initiative. Someone talked about making a fidget quilt to help calm a friend with Alzheimer's. The following site mentions making these lap quilts for children and vision impaired people.
http://www.quiltsfromcaringhands.com/our_quilts/directions/index.html

I found this site just now when I wanted a better explanation than I could give on this site. Of course, my qult is not those simple squares. Interestingly enough, they mention making a pocket. I thought I was being really creative by making a pocket on this quilt. The 'Purena Flour' rectangle is the pocket on my quilt. I gathered up every piece of decor I could find. Made sure it was sturdy AND colorfast AND able to withstand frequent washes.

my favorite trim = tassles [love to touch it] + other textural fabric

new-old 'ad' fabric I found very interesting, lace trim, grosgrain ribbon with a satin center, fabric textured by stitches, grosgrain

When I was almost done I accidentally ran my finger over a piece of trim. It really felt nice. Then I tested all the trim pieces and got some bits of satin ribbon because my finger really wanted to touch that. It was really fun to close my eyes and 'see' the quilt.

Pocket

Rickrack wiggle + almost echo quilting

Sparkling BIG rickrack + lots of fancy stitches

Rhinestone trim on rough fabric, stitching on satin and heavily textured uphostery fabric

One thing I would do differently is to make it smaller and use a poly filling as that would be lighter. I used many upholstery fabrics + some heavy trims. Also, I had to be very careful not to get any seams near each other because of the fabric thickness. I might put strips between the rows to make it a little easier to quilt and reduce the thick seams. Another thing I might not do again is add the trim with the rhinestones. Very easy to break needles on that trim. But it does give a lot of sparkle.

Fidget Quilt laying on my bed.

I do hope you enjoy this project and are then inspired to make one yourself. I'm sure there are places in every community that might appreciate a little lap quilt with lots of tactile interest.