Volunteers and Donations are always appreciated!
The prayer quilt ministry is a group who makes quilts with prayer and sends them to people who need comfort, hope, and encouragement. Several donors help to keep this ministry operating, but funds are always needed for mailing and buying materials. Volunteers are welcome to join the prayer quilt team.
Our Story
“Undiscovered Blessings” by Rita Tasche.
Because of a visit to our good friends in Hutchinson, MN, I began my Prayer Quilt Ministry. My friend was battling cancer, lost her hair and was covered by a beautiful prayer quilt. “This was given to me by women from another faith, "I don’t know why our church doesn’t do this!” she said. That’s when a light bulb went off in my head! “Why not me?” I said. The Lord had blessed me with an abundance of fabric and all 7 of our grandkids and 16 grandkids already had quilts I had made.
Actually, this is God’s ministry, for all recipients are prayed for on each knot as the quilts are tied by our helpers we call our “knotty girls and boys”. We want the person and their family to know God loves them and people care what they’re going through.
I started by myself in 2009 with a few ladies joining me and it has grown too large to be in our house. One by one, more dedicated folks were added to my team. Now we are meeting twice a week from 8 am to 4 pm on Mondays and Thursdays in a conference room on third floor the Senior Center has graciously provided for us free of charge. A donation came in from Mills Ford Dealership to build cupboards for storing our 7 donated sewing machines, fabric and thread. The maintenance man built them for us. There is a perfect deep shelved closet across the hall to store our folding tables, ironing board, and totes of kits and blocks we have readied to sew together. There are locks on the cupboards and closet.
My crew consists of people of various faiths, including my own. Monday mornings will find my “Pin Up” girls pinning tops, batting and backings together and two helpers sew the binding around the edges. One helper takes crazy quilt squares home to zig zag small pieces on. Some take unsewn blocks home to sew and others sew together kits that our man quilter has cut and I have assembled that make complete tops except for a border added when they are complete.
When we don’t get enough monetary donations in, our church’s Dorcas Thrift Shop helps with funds to pay for the batting and postage when we send the quilts away to someone’s loved one. We also include an encouragement card signed with many notes and signatures of some of those who lift these folks up in prayer every day. Monetary donations come in from time to time and also fabric, thread and even some premade tops. We make the tops 5’ x 6’ so they can wrap up in prayers.
We have made over 2.400 Prayer Quilts as of August 8, 2018, using 8 yards of fabric for each one. This would equal to over 19,200 yards or to almost 11 miles of fabric.
My husband often delivers and picks up quilts from the prayer warriors who tie at home, boxes them up and sends them. He sometimes helps me cut strips at home. We say he has been, “Grandfathered” in and is indispensable!
I keep a book of names that have received quilts and we send up “blanket” prayers for them. We are unable to remember each name, but God knows them all and each ones needs. All receivers of these quilts are fighting cancer, having heart or lung issues, have had strokes, Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, have had tragic accidents or are experiencing other life threatening issues.
We are immensely blessed and get thank you messages in the mail every week. One said, “I don’t even go to church and all these people I don’t even know are praying for me…Amazing!’
Please pray for these hurting people.