Sew much fun: Quilters share ideas, fellowship 

by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org

TOPEKA — The most important thing to remember is: “It is not about the quilt. . . . It’s about the prayers and evangelization.”

That’s what Betty Henderson told a group of 30 members from five of the six other Topeka parishes during a get-together held in St. Matthew’s parish hall on Jan. 18. Henderson is a member of St. Matthew’s prayer blanket ministry group.

Dubbed a tea party, the event was the idea of Dale Rose, prayer blanket ministry coordinator at St. Matthew. She thought it’d be fun to get all of the various sewing groups and prayer blanket ministries from the other parishes together to share resources, learn different skills and see some of the various tools being used by St. Matthew’s to create their prayer blankets.

Short, small-group sessions included border quilts, sandwiching techniques, machine embroidery, hand embroidery, hand quilting and 3D blocking. The sessions were done in rotation and lasted about five to six minutes each. That way, all participants could participate in all sessions.

To kick off the morning’s activities, Rose led those gathered in a “quilter’s prayer,” dedicating both their time and stitches as a prayer for those who eventually receive their finished prayer blankets. One of the lines read: “Let this activity not just be a hobby, but dedicated time of intercession where our thoughts and prayers are woven into the fabric of each quilt, bringing warmth, comfort and hope to all who are covered by it.”

Typical prayers include the rosary and the chaplet of Divine Mercy, but others simply come from the heart.

“Prayers are on the lips while the mind is on sewing,” Henderson said, adding one of her favorites is simply, “Lord, please don’t let me mess this up!”

Prayer is vital to any parish prayer blanket ministry. Over the last 15-20 years, St. Matthew has distributed hundreds of blankets around the city, state, region, nation and at least 15 other countries. Quilts have found their way to the sick, to those in hospitals and nursing homes, and to those who have suffered devastating losses. In some cases, people have experienced physical or spiritual healing.

The healings which have occurred shouldn’t really surprise anyone, Henderson said. After all, the use of prayer cloths dates back to biblical times and can be found in both the Old and New Testaments.

For example, in Acts 19:11-12, a book usually attributed to St. Luke, it is written: “And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.”

A famous example of a cloth involved in at least one healing is the Shroud of Turin, Henderson said, adding she could tell dozens of stories of people healed or comforted by the prayer blankets distributed by St. Matthew’s prayer blanket ministry.

Perhaps that’s one reason why the ministry was so excited to share their ideas and resources with Topeka’s other parishes, a fact appreciated by the participants themselves.

Pat Hippen, a member of Christ the King Parish’s quilt group, said she’d attended the tea party because she “wanted to see what everyone else is doing,” and perhaps pick up a skill or two, like learning how to use the AccuQuilt cutting tools.

Shelly Barton of Sacred Heart-St. Joseph Parish said she was glad she came. She, too, signed up in order to learn “some tips and tricks” as well as “to enjoy fellowship with others.” Her head is now full of ideas, ideas she can hardly wait to share with her parish.