Prayer quilt questions
 

Hello friends. My wife has been speaking to someone at church about creating prayer quilts for some of our members. The general idea is we would make a small quilt top and add baking and batting, and some yarn ties. We would ask other members to pray for the recipient and knot one of the ties to indicate that they have and will pray for them. When the quilt is completely tied, we will finish the quilt and give it to the recipient. They can then take it for procedures, etc for comfort. I’m here to ask some questions and get suggestions.

1) We plan to start with children. We think it should be on the small side for them - maybe 36 x 42 so we can use one yard of fabric as the back. Is this a good size?
2) We have talked to a couple of the pastors about it and they are behind us. They will help us by passing along names of kids who have sickness/surgery/injuries. This will help us manage and prioritize the list of recipients. Any other suggestions about how to manage this? We don’t want to do this for every runny nose that comes down the block; just for kids who have chronic issues that involve a lot of Dr visits.
3) Our plan is to make quilts of minimal difficulty. It will be more about letting the families know they are being prayed for. We’re thinking 9P, double 4P, maybe strip quilts or panels. Any suggestions for ultra simple patterns? We are also hoping to get other quilters/sewists involved.
4) Jordan Fabrics has a YouTube video showing how to make a quilt, attach batting and backing, then turning the quilt out and finishing the edges before tying. That’s the direction we’re leaning for finishing. Is there a better way?
5) We also would like to have a list or maybe a small booklet that people can sign as they tie their knots. Any suggestions for this?
6) We are a fairly large church, so we want to be careful that we are not overwhelmed with requests, but also that we don’t hurt any feelings if someone has a need. Hopefully having the pastors involved will help with this. Any suggestions here?
7) Any glaring holes in our brainstorming?

Thanks for your ideas!

Darren

Sounds like a great plan!

36" X 42" is small, but good for carrying to hospitals and Dr. offices.

When I've made "pillowcase quilts," I sew the layers together with the batting on the bottom, and it works really well for tied quilts.

Maybe you could print a nice card with a couple pages sewn into it for signing.

What a great service idea!

Our WOM members are involved with this. We cut WOF x however long you want it. Check and see what the Linus project sizes are as we do all sizes.
I understand even with good intentions it’s like anything else, purpose can be abused or workers time abused. I was more involved with ours until quilts were being giving for any little thing.
We layered ours then having the back a little larger turned it over for self binding. We put all DMC stands of floss about 5 inch apart all through the quilt. When this was done we passed it through the Sunday school classes where it was passed around, prayed over while tying a couple knots on one floss. Each tied floss represented a prayer offered for the patient.
I also embroidered on the back a cross, with WOM (women on mission) and FBC (First Baptist Church) on either side of cross. The name of our town was under it all. It was given in hopes if the patient didn’t have a home church they would be welcomed there. The embroidery was done before any assembly of quilt layers.
I still donate my work to Quilts of Valor and CASA but sad to say not in WOM at this time. Even good meaning Christians can abuse a well meaning project. I think it would be a good idea to give to only those that were sick enough to be hospitalized because you may find yourself where I am now.
I really feel bad for not being involved but I’ll give you another example. I asked the ladies that were planning on doing their quilt to bring me their back to embroider at church on Sundays. However, I had this one lady that would phone wanting to come to my house that day.
Good luck and I hope you are successful with a well meaning program. Guidelines do need to be set BEFORE the program starts so there won’t be misunderstandings, hurt feelings or abuse later in my opinion anyway.

https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png Wonderful ministry! I like your simple quilt patterns and panel ideas. As for the size, it depends what age children you set the age limit to be gifted quilts. I think your size is great for infant , toddler, and up to kindergarten....car seat, stroller or drag around size.

I agree with toogie about the guidelines being set before announcing it to the church. The committee for choosing who gets a quilt, should be anonymous , so no one has hurt feelings.

Wishing you the best!

Setting guidelines and having a committee choose recipients anonymously are great ideas. Our shawl ministry fell apart for lack of same.

What a great sense of healing this project is going to give to those who receive the quilts. Your brainstorming is Wowing me. What great ideas you have here. I would start small and also maintain a small surplus if possible for emergency surgeries or injury that can be accessed quickly. This can help your quilters from becoming overwhelmed. I am sure you will have a great number of request for these precious quilts. Gosh, I can't add a thing to your already well designed thoughts. Prayers.