Monday 16 July 2012

Tour de Fibre - Weighing

I've largely finished the beach quilt (I'm really just waiting for the binding fabric which I ordered, but the fabric is long out of print and the only place I could find it was at a shop I've not used before, and they've not responded to any of my emails, so I can't be sure I'm even going to get it! Has anyone used a shop called Granny Goose?).


So I moved onto another commission I had waiting, and which I knew I oculd put together fairly quickly. The design is based on (and very similar to) a quilt I made about 8 or 9 years ago. The mother wanted a weighted quilt, which can be soothing for childrem with sensory issues, but didn't like what was generally available to go with the celestial themed room she's doing. She saw my earlier quilt, and asked whether this was something I could do. I did a bit of research and considering how best to make it. I ordered some special poly pellets to add the weight; the nearly 3kg divided by the 63 sections worked out to 46g - which is what I was weighing here:


The top layout was 14x18 squares cut at 3in, to finish at 2.5in. I added some extra layers to give it extra durability, then quilted around three edges, and vertically from bottom to top between every second column, giving me 7 channels. I then measured out 7 lots of 46g of pellets (hence the 7 cups), poured one cup into each column, shook it down thoroughly, pinned to help keep the pellets from my sewing line, then carefully quilt across the 2nd and 3rd rows. Each pocket is 2x2 squares, and measures 5in square. 46g is plenty for a pocket that size. As I worked up the quilt it got seriously heavy (for comparison, a regular quilt of this size weighs around half a kilogram - 1/6 of this one) and unweildy.

7 comments:

Lynette said...

oh, wow - love, love that interplay with all the star fabrics. What a neat effect.

LittleWhiteDove said...

Awesome quilt! And I want a weighted quilt! Nothing better than lots of heavy blankies in winter....mmm...snuggly...

Frances Arnold said...

I had never heard of a weighted quilt but was interested to read more about it. How cool that you have the opportunity to make something that will sooth a little one's frazzled nerves!!!

vintage bedspreads said...

Hi, it’s the first time that I visit your website. Nice info, thanks!
vintage bedspreads

Yvonne W said...

Lovely star fabrics. I had never heard of a weighted quilt before-- so have learnt something new today.

Anonymous said...

Wow Emma! I visited your site again to explain to someone what you were doing for my little one and I was so surprised to see that you actually had done so much on it already! I love all the thougtful shading of blues, I have a lump in my throat! Good nights' sleep is around the corner for all of us!

Houseelf said...

Lovely work. Thanks for explaining how to do weights within the pockets of a quilt. I had only read about weights at the edges like on tablecloths or curtains. The colours work so well without jarring the senses for someone who is more sensitive.

Sorry not used that company. Have you tried phoning them? Some companies are poor at e-commerce.