I still remember times as a child when my mother tenderly covered me with a quilt. It was total contentment that I felt inside — a feeling of safety that flashes back in my memory even now.

Go back in your life. Remember when you checked your baby in the winter’s midnight darkness to find that the covers had been kicked away and their little body was curled up, tight? That soft sigh of relief and how they stretched out in relaxation when you touched them with the blanket made you know you were doing something right.

Life’s experiences are not all comforting. Some are painful, indeed. Perhaps you’ve been pushed in on a surgical cart to a frigid, light-flushed operating room, as I have many times. But then, a thoughtful nurse covered you with a heated blanket and you gave a sigh of relief.

That’s what today’s story is about — providing comfort to others.

During the past four years, 71 people have been presented lap quilts, designed and stitched by members of the Prayers and Squares Quilt Ministry of Field Street Baptist Church in Cleburne. Some recipients had needs of illness, while others experienced personal crises.

The quilt, alone, is not the purpose of the gift.

Dorothy Moser, who established the local chapter of the national Prayers and Squares group, explained, “I read about a similar group in a Dallas newspaper. I couldn’t get it off my mind. I asked our pastor, Dr. John Hall, about it and he encouraged me to form a group.”

Dorothy knew of a group in Weatherford and checked with their leader for direction.

“I told my Frances Scott Bible Fellowship Class members about the idea to make the lap quilts [most are 48-inches by 48-inches] for those we knew who needed prayers and comfort,” she said.

Several ladies agreed to help. The group became a part of the senior adult ministry of the church.

Members insist their quilts aren’t perfect. They don’t have tiny hand stitches, and there’s no quilting frame.

The finished product looked flawless to me. If not works of art, then they are surely works from the heart.

Cotton fabric is preferred. Many members had bolts of fabric in their closets, as they enjoyed sewing. Those donations, plus fabric brought into the church’s Spirit of Sharing gave them a beginning.

Weldon Huneycutt has helped the project by providing a sewing machine and maintenance to all home machines used, they said.

Favorite quilt patterns are chosen online. Members divide up the duties of pressing and cutting out the fabric. Sewing the quilt pieces together is done by machine. After pressing the entire quilt top, it is symmetrically tacked with cord, later to be tied in a knot. The quilt is laid atop batting and lining and bound by machine.

The tying of each knot is done while praying for the person who will receive it, they said.

“Sometimes we take the quilt to our Sunday School department so that everyone who wants to will have an opportunity to tie a knot and say a prayer,” Dorothy said.

A scrapbook prepared by quilter Wilma Hale was filled with photos of the quilts being personally delivered. One thank you note expressed, “Thank you for the beautiful prayer quilt made with love and filled with prayers. Those prayers and your love have kept me going during this difficult time.”

There were photos and news stories about their first quilt recipient, little Fahim Ishaq, a native of Afghanistan, who had been burned and disfigured by a bomb.

“My daughter, Kathy Stevenson, knew of the child, who was temporarily in the Houston area to have surgery to repair his burned face and amputated hand,” Dorothy said. “He was in a Katy ISD kindergarten class where she worked. She thought he would love a quilt of his own.”

Fahim’s Muslim guardian family said they would receive the quilt and prayers with gratitude. When the quilt was delivered the event was covered by the Houston-area media.

I was shown single quilt squares in patriotic designs. I asked about those.

“This fabric was supplied by member Nancy Holland,” Dorothy said. “They are for our servicemen and women. Each corner and the center have a prayer knot. The square is folded and mailed in an envelope with a note explaining that we made it for them.”

I wondered if some of them serve as markers in Bibles today on foreign soil.

Nancy Kilpatrick unboxed baby quilts, awaiting new babies born to members of the church.

Current quilters, Nancy Holland, Dorothy Tyer, Darlene Campbell, Doris Bentley, Mary Cowen, Viola Meadows, Nancy Kilpatrick, Wilma Hale, Martha Wingate, Joyce Smith and Moser agree that they get personal satisfaction from the projects. They are eager to reach out to others, and request referrals.

To request that a quilt be prepared for someone you know, call the church at 817-645-4376, and leave a message for the group. A member will return your call, requesting the name of the recipient, their address, telephone number, and their type of need. As the quilt is made and each knot is tied, prayers will be lifted up for their specific need.

No reimbursement for the quilt will be accepted, as guidelines list that it is a gift of love and prayer which cannot be bought or sold.

As I visited with the quilters at a work session, there was an easy, relaxed conversation across the table. They were friends who had helped each other adjust to life’s sorrows through the years and celebrated their good times together. They welcome new quilters, as well.

“I needed something to do for other people. I’m on a walker — I’m limited in what I can do,” she said. “Through this ministry I feel as though I am serving God instead of thinking about myself.”

 She showed me written suggestions, entitled, “Weave God into Your Life,” which helps direct her thoughts when she is at the sewing machine. The thread, for example, reminds her to weave God’s word into her heart and to hide it there. The tension control signals self control. The machine light — the Light of the World.

 “When I’m using the reverse switch of the sewing machine, I think, ‘I can’t reverse my life or undo the wrong things I’ve done, but I can strive to go forward for God from this day forth,’” she said.

In years to come, some of these quilts are bound to surface among the items in local estate sales. As each is examined, its identifying cross will not likely be overlooked. A tag lists the date and reads, “Each knot on this special Prayer Square quilt represents a prayer offered in love for (name.) Prayers & Squares, the Prayer Quilt Ministry of Field Street Baptist Church.”

After hours of intricate preparation, their gift from the heart may warm the very soul.



Larue Barnes may be reached at laruebarnes@yahoo.com.



For more information:

Prayers and Squares

P.O. Box 156

Poway, CA 92074

www.prayerquilt.org