Friday Finish - Weighted Blanket

The weighted blanket for my father is done at last.  It was not hard.  I followed the instructions from Confessions of a Fabric Addict, but enlarged it to 60 x 60.

Pinning the back to the pocket front.

Wow, did it take a lot of fabric.  I would like to say it all came from stash, but considering that my strips needed to be 60" long and my backs and fronts had to be 62" square minimum I went with the recommendation to use flat sheets.  I hit the jackpot at my favorite thrift store a few weeks ago when their linens were 1/2 off!  I got 2 king flats and a twin flat for $6 total and I used it all up.  The front of the cover is from stash - my mother's stash actually which is appropriate since it is for my father.  There was just enough after I pieced it for extra width and length.

Marking the vertical lines to finish the pockets.

I don't know if I miscalculated the weight needed or if the weight of the fabric making it was so heavy that it overloaded my final weight.  I only used 50 of the 100 pellet pouches that I had planned to use.  That worked out fine.  We just put a pellet pouch in every other pocket and the weight is evenly distributed.

On the bed.  Size and color is good.

His initial reaction while sitting was that he liked the feel of it.  We are waiting to see if there is an improvement in his sleeping, which in turn will prevent the falls.

One of the employees at his memory care facility saw the blanket and asked about it.  She was very curious because she had looked into purchasing weighted blankets to have on hand, but the cost $150+ held her back.  I assured her that $150 was cheap for all the materials and labor that goes into it.  She will follow my father's progress.  She did say that mine was prettier than the catalog blankets.

So that is a heavy weight lifted from my to do list - all puns intended!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts to show off finishes.