Daylesewblessed

If you are planning to give quilts to members and friends of your congregation who are facing medical or other major life challenges, I suggest that you look at this website: http://www.prayerquilt.org/. You don't have to attach your group to theirs, but you can learn from their experiences. They have ideas about selecting recipients, involving the congregation in parts of the process, labels, etc.

If your congregation has people who would like to participate, but either cannot come to regular day time meetings or who have other time constraints limiting their involvement, you might want to try having quarterly, semi-annual, or annual work days on a Saturday (in addition to your normal sessions). At these meetings members of the whole congregation can be invited. In addition to getting the benefit of their work that day, they become educated and motivated by the quilting ministry. They may come up with resources you had not dreamed of. In any case, this type of work meeting has to be planned for with activities for semi-skilled people.

Another idea we have used in our church is to have children make quilt squares with fabric markers using their original art, fabric with a simple design outlined for color, or pre-printed fabric squares or panels. After the children do their art, other fabric may be added to make a quilt top. The resulting quilt can be displayed in the church/classroom, used in a fundraiser, or given to charity. The process is an opportunity for multi-generational projects and for teaching.

Best wishes for a rewarding experience.

MadQuilter

The community service group in my guild offers a variety of opportunities for people to participate.
There is a meeting on a regular basis where some of the "regulars" go and sew.
They offer complete components (top, backing, batting, and binding - all precut) so a member can take it home and sandwich/finish the quilt.
They offer prepacked kits (sometimes for blocks and sometimes for quilts) that someone can then assemble.

Depending on how much time I have, I will take what works. On real busy months, I may just take a few blocks home to finish. That way I contribute in a manageable way.