History of Quilt Full of Prayers
A Quilt Full of Prayers was born out of a need for a means to share love and comfort in a tangible way that didn’t take hours and hours of time – time I didn’t have to spare.
My grandson, Jonathan, has a wonderful day care provider, Mary. Mary and I have become friends through chatting and sharing when I drop him off and pick him up. The news that Mary’s 28-year-old son had been hospitalized and was in serious condition was bad enough, but when the word came that Zachary had died, I was shocked. Having raised sons through some tough times, I felt as though I shared her pain – that it could have been me. I wanted and needed to do something for her more than send flowers, more than attend the services.
As coordinator of my church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry, my first instinct was to make her a prayer shawl. But I knew first-hand that the prayer shawls take up many knitting hours. As a quilter of 35 plus years, my thoughts turned to what I had read of a program called Prayers and Squares which uses quilts to convey spiritual comfort. I decided I wanted to make a quilt that would speak to Mary and help her – a quilt I could put in her hands now, not later. A quilt packed with prayers and power, but was easy to make.
So I designed a Quilt Full of Prayers for Mary. I strove for comfort and healing so I designed a garden where she could walk with God, full of butterflies (symbols of new life) and flowers. The garden is colored with the greens of new life and healing, purples for wisdom and power, white for the Spirit, blues for healing, tranquility, peace, and faith, and pink for friendship.
The pieces are sized to be combinations of the number Three – the most powerful number which symbolizes the Trinity and Divine Perfection. The blocks themselves are Nine inches, Nine representing the nine gifts of the Spirit (among which are faith, healing, miracles, and wisdom). A Five inch border surrounds the garden – Five being the number representing Grace and Redemption.
When I arrange the blocks in my garden, the nine inch rectangles represent the paths of life that we walk together. Since life does not always take us where we plan to go, I turn some of the blocks to break up an otherwise too perfect place.
The Psalms speak to people of all faiths for their sentiments express a common humanity. The psalm verses are chosen based on the needs of the person who will receive the quilt.
The Prayer Beads are added in combinations of Seven, the number representing Spiritual Perfection. The Five largest beads once again speak of Grace. Beads, like prayer shawls or blankets, have been used to bring people close to the Divine and to soothe and provide comfort through touch since earliest times.
While I choose fabrics and while I sew, I pray – constantly. I envision the person who needs my prayers and re-live the memories of times shared. I listen to soothing music, hymns especially. (I don’t work on a Quilt Full of Prayers while watching TV shows full of violence and pain!) For me, the quilt is a living substance that absorbs my love and caring, and is then turned by the Spirit into an instrument of power and healing.
Mary is an incredible woman who daily shows me the strength of faith and prayer. I have watched her pick up the pieces of her life and go forward in faith against such terrible grief. But Mary has told me of the comfort her quilt has provided her daily as she curls up under its warmth each evening, and it leaves me awestruck!
Little did I know when I began Mary’s quilt that the Spirit would use the quilt in such a powerful way, or that I would be expected to use the quilt for more than just comforting Mary! Requests for quilts full of prayer began as soon as Mary’s friends saw the quilt. God would speak to me in many forms about sharing the quilts. I in turn would think that no way could I handle making these quilts in that kind of quantity because I couldn’t handle “one more thing” in my life! But then, my friend, Margaret, whom I know is a prophet as she often speaks God’s Word as plain as writing on the wall, said to me in my kitchen, “Now don’t you think that God wants you to share the ability to make these quilts with other people? That there aren’t others who want to make them too?”
So, QuiltFullofPrayers.com was born. My prayer for you is that your kit and your time spent sewing and praying enables you to do the work of the Spirit for someone in need of prayer. I can guarantee that you will also gain many gifts from the prayers and the sewing, for the Spirit will in turn fill you to the brim! May you be blessed!
My grandson, Jonathan, has a wonderful day care provider, Mary. Mary and I have become friends through chatting and sharing when I drop him off and pick him up. The news that Mary’s 28-year-old son had been hospitalized and was in serious condition was bad enough, but when the word came that Zachary had died, I was shocked. Having raised sons through some tough times, I felt as though I shared her pain – that it could have been me. I wanted and needed to do something for her more than send flowers, more than attend the services.
As coordinator of my church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry, my first instinct was to make her a prayer shawl. But I knew first-hand that the prayer shawls take up many knitting hours. As a quilter of 35 plus years, my thoughts turned to what I had read of a program called Prayers and Squares which uses quilts to convey spiritual comfort. I decided I wanted to make a quilt that would speak to Mary and help her – a quilt I could put in her hands now, not later. A quilt packed with prayers and power, but was easy to make.
So I designed a Quilt Full of Prayers for Mary. I strove for comfort and healing so I designed a garden where she could walk with God, full of butterflies (symbols of new life) and flowers. The garden is colored with the greens of new life and healing, purples for wisdom and power, white for the Spirit, blues for healing, tranquility, peace, and faith, and pink for friendship.
The pieces are sized to be combinations of the number Three – the most powerful number which symbolizes the Trinity and Divine Perfection. The blocks themselves are Nine inches, Nine representing the nine gifts of the Spirit (among which are faith, healing, miracles, and wisdom). A Five inch border surrounds the garden – Five being the number representing Grace and Redemption.
When I arrange the blocks in my garden, the nine inch rectangles represent the paths of life that we walk together. Since life does not always take us where we plan to go, I turn some of the blocks to break up an otherwise too perfect place.
The Psalms speak to people of all faiths for their sentiments express a common humanity. The psalm verses are chosen based on the needs of the person who will receive the quilt.
The Prayer Beads are added in combinations of Seven, the number representing Spiritual Perfection. The Five largest beads once again speak of Grace. Beads, like prayer shawls or blankets, have been used to bring people close to the Divine and to soothe and provide comfort through touch since earliest times.
While I choose fabrics and while I sew, I pray – constantly. I envision the person who needs my prayers and re-live the memories of times shared. I listen to soothing music, hymns especially. (I don’t work on a Quilt Full of Prayers while watching TV shows full of violence and pain!) For me, the quilt is a living substance that absorbs my love and caring, and is then turned by the Spirit into an instrument of power and healing.
Mary is an incredible woman who daily shows me the strength of faith and prayer. I have watched her pick up the pieces of her life and go forward in faith against such terrible grief. But Mary has told me of the comfort her quilt has provided her daily as she curls up under its warmth each evening, and it leaves me awestruck!
Little did I know when I began Mary’s quilt that the Spirit would use the quilt in such a powerful way, or that I would be expected to use the quilt for more than just comforting Mary! Requests for quilts full of prayer began as soon as Mary’s friends saw the quilt. God would speak to me in many forms about sharing the quilts. I in turn would think that no way could I handle making these quilts in that kind of quantity because I couldn’t handle “one more thing” in my life! But then, my friend, Margaret, whom I know is a prophet as she often speaks God’s Word as plain as writing on the wall, said to me in my kitchen, “Now don’t you think that God wants you to share the ability to make these quilts with other people? That there aren’t others who want to make them too?”
So, QuiltFullofPrayers.com was born. My prayer for you is that your kit and your time spent sewing and praying enables you to do the work of the Spirit for someone in need of prayer. I can guarantee that you will also gain many gifts from the prayers and the sewing, for the Spirit will in turn fill you to the brim! May you be blessed!
