AliKat

Wow. and Congratulations.
My church started a quilting group many years ago. We connected with Prayers & Squares and it was great. A group of us went to San Diego for a P&S conference. Was well worth it.
To include various skills and ages our prayer quilts and are tied. Our less experienced and older members placed the ties.
One of the men from the church made a small PVC quilting frame to hold the quilt while being tied. It was easily disassembled for storage each week.
Labels were bought form P&S's.
The lap quilts were stored and the church nurse gave us the names of the recipients.
As the lapquilts were assigned to individuals, and the labels filled out, each quilt was displayed in our narthex. Church attendees could view the quilts, note the names of those to receive the quilts, and tie the ties in square knots while saying a prayer for that person. Thus the P&S name.
No other information was given about the individual person receiving a quilt to keep confidentiality.
We had a great leader. The group was anchored by our quilters. Quilters could either meet and sew together or sew at home. It was their choice. Our group met for only a few hours each week.
The church gave us a room to use weekly as well as a locked closet in that room to store fabric, batting, ironing board, quilting frame, etc .
P&S had great guidelines.
Many members donated supplies or money for supplies.
Personally, I objected to some groups having more than just the name on a sign placed with each quilt. I was glad our group felt the same way.

ragamuffin

I visited with my cousins in Jacksonville, Fl at their church. The quilts, made from 10" square pieces, were on all the pews with the tie in each one. You were asked to pray for the receiver as the pastor blessed the quilts and then you could tie a tie. Then we found out that the group also gives tee shirts and personal hygiene items to the migrant workers, and I think new socks. They announce that anyone with sheets for the back, additional fabric, and other items can drop them off in the boxes in the foyer. And the boxes were full. Great idea to outreach the people for God.

Quiltangelady

My church has a Prayers and Squares group. We have a small room where we keep our supplies and meet twice a month. We made prayer quilts that are tied for persons for whatever their need is. We make baptismal quilts to give when a baby is baptized. We make prayer squares that we keep in baskets for people to take for themselves or for others that have ties. We have also done confirmation quilts to be given to confirmands and tied by the congregation. P&S has a lot of good ideas on their website.

coopah

My church has a prayer quilt/ pocket prayer quilts group. It also makes dresses for underprivileged girls here in the USA and abroad. For many reasons, we only have a meeting twice a year. At your first meeting, you should have some parameters set or a discussion about them like: how many meetings, clearly state the purpose of the group, how to access materials for the projects and those kinds of things.
The prayer quilts are generally lap sized and have to be requested, because the quilts go to those who need the comfort and not just because they want a quilt. We do give a quilt to every new baby without the ask. The pocket prayer quilts are for anyone, and each child in our preschool gets one every year during one of their weekly chapel services.
It's a good group, the leader keeps tabs on what's needed, and we have a budget for those who want to help but can't afford the materials, and so far so good. I have two cautions: 1. Praise for finished projects should be done privately or just a general praise. Singling out one person's efforts/work in public hurts others who are doing their very best for the Lord and the church. 2. Be careful not to let the group get sidelined into things like making choir robes or graduation robes for the preschool. Or anything else that is not consistent with the original purpose of the group.
I wish you all the best as you start your group. Many good suggestions here for you to process and choose the ones that fit your group best.

KalamaQuilts

from where will you draw your resources? You don't need just fabric, but thread, batt, tie material.

A caveat about tying, do it no less than 3-4 fingers apart, tied quilts that shift with wear and wash, don't last long.

If you decide to donate outside the church, talk to those people and see if there is an actual need there.
My mothers nursing home had a room stuffed with afghans and lap quilts.
Our hospital doesn't accept home made goods, they just aren't sanitary

nuffsaid

A friend of mine began a very successful quilting group in her church, and they do a variety of projects for donation. Some of the things she has said about the group:
1. You will get all varieties of experience, but most of them were beginners.
2. Use simple patterns, especially in the beginning.
3. They bought 4 identical sewing machines to be kept at the church. That way, everyone knew how to use them, people did not have to bring their machines to church, and a lot of time was saved by not having to problem solve different machine issues.
4. They birth their quilts and tie them (again--this speaks to the majority of volunteers being beginners, and then to not have to spend money sending quilts to a long-arm quilter).
5. Initially, my friend would choose the fabrics from the donated fabrics; and as the people gained experience, she would let them choose fabrics to go together.
6. They make prayer quilts, quilts given to people undergoing a difficult time, quilts to military, surgical caps for kids at a pediatric hospital, quilts for an ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) group, pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa, and quilts to be raffled off for charity events.

zennia

My quilting group meets twice a month at our local church. We pretty much work on our own projects and love show and tell. if someone make something everyone is interested in we ask her to do a demo at our next meeting. We also do a rafle quilt each year and anyone who wants works on it. The proceeds go to the church as a thank you for letting us use the church. Every person has different likes and show and tell is always fun. Guest speakers are fun to.

greaterexp

I lead our little group at our church. The experience/expertise levels vary widely. We found that out quickly the hard way. So after our first and second projects that had big problems, I did mini classes on the areas in which things went wrong. (I wish I had started that way, but assumed all ladies there were already accomplished quilters!) I wrote up some standards or best practices for each area, such as how to press, 1/4-inch seams, measuring, cutting, etc. and went over these with a brief demonstration. I was shocked to find out that very few of the ladies knew what I was talking about, even those who had been making quilts for years, but doing it their own way. I think everyone understood that in working with a group, we had to do things in a consistent way. We also stopped allowing work to go home, since the blocks came back with mistakes. We do all the work there, so it goes more slowly, but we have far fewer problems. The ladies can ask questions when they have a problem and it can be taken care of quickly. We also have a couple of "go to" ladies, who are knowledgeable, and I encourage people to go directly to them if they have a question or problem, rather than getting wrong information.
It's also interesting to discover the group dynamics, the personalities, and what areas can cause trouble. I just thought that we are all mature Christian ladies with a common goal, but found out that we are all at different levels of personal growth, that none of us are perfect, and we would have to overcome some obstacles.
I still do reminder lessons when I see that an old problem is creeping back in, and on rare occasions have had to speak privately to a member (always the same one!) about her negative attitude and unwillingness to learn. I think it's possible to have that one member who wants to be in charge or has some other weakness that can cause problems, so you will have to find ways to lovingly correct those.
Be sure you know who you are quilting for, so you don't make quilts that are inappropriate for that group in size, color, style, or materials. We tried to start with patterns that weren't too challenging and have gradually learned more so we can branch out a little. If it's too hard, folks will get frustrated and want to quit.
I can tell you that it's been a lot of hard work at times, but it's been immensely rewarding. We always start with prayer and a scripture that someone wants to share, so we've bonded as a group and are now like family.
We are so blessed to have our church behind us, and though our room is tiny, and we've had to move a couple of times, we always make it work.
We laugh a lot! When someone makes a mistake, and all of us do, we have developed a practice of having a good laugh over it, and moving on. I try to set a good example and remember everyone is watching me!
We try to do an occasional potluck or take in a quilt show or two as a group just for fun and inspiration. Those activities bond us together even more closely.
We make quilts for a mission that helps young girls coming out of sex trafficking and also make some for a hospice home. We've made a couple to sell at our bazaar, as well as for a church campground bazaar who requested it. We try to stay open to new ideas.
We started with hand quilting, but no one really wanted to learn, so now a friend and I who share a long arm do all the machine quilting to avoid the high costs of sending them out. I'm also the one who keeps the machines up and running and does any troubleshooting, so having someone who understands sewing machines in general is a bonus. I loved the idea someone else had about using all the same machines, but we've had to use whatever machines I donated.
Our church lets us put on a small Christmas bazaar to help fund our quilt group. We quickly found that donated material often wasn't appropriate for quilts.
Have fun with your new group! God bless you!

quilting cat

We cut the back 66" x 86", batting same 60" x 80" as top; fold edges of back in twice, pins pointing inward; edges zig-zagged after quilt is tied. If the top doesn't have obvious grid for tying, make a template of an old sheet.
If your church has a youth room with a ping-pong table not in use when you meet, you may be able to use that to lay out your layers to pin hems and tie.
Twice a year we have a blessing of the quilts, displaying them over the backs of the pews one Sunday morning before delivering them. This is the best way to encourage congregational support, even if you have to start small.
Our Lutheran World Relief quilting group also delivers some of our quilts to nearby shelters.

Daylesewblessed

Keep these ideas and experiences coming! You all don't know how valuable they are for me!
Thanks!