West Center Baptist celebrates quilting ministry
EACH LAP QUILT made by the women at West Center Baptist Church is finished in the same way, with women praying for the recipient as they tie the knots that bind the layers together. On Sunday, at a celebration of the church ministry, Angela Peters (left), Karen Logan and Betty Wilbur were among those demonstrating this final step.
Posted: Thursday, October 25, 2018 3:21 pm
Delora Sims looked chic on Sunday afternoon, wearing a denim cap as she moved from table to table in the basement of West Center Baptist Church, talking with friends.
Having finished chemotherapy for endometrial grade 3 carcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer which begins in the lining of the uterus, she was glowing with well-being. Like others there, she had come to celebrate a church ministry which had blessed her personally -- the quilting ministry.
Sims had received one of the 500 quilts which has been constructed by a group of faithful women who had also lifted her up in prayer.
"How do I explain it?" she replied when asked how it felt to receive a prayer quilt, and then paused to reflect on her experience.
"It's a blessing," Sims said. "You know that people are praying for you and love you."
She used the quilt when traveling, when napping, when reading.
"You know you are surrounded by prayers. While they were tying each knot, they were saying a prayer," she continued.
Those prayers were a comfort to Sims.
The pie and ice cream social was held to celebrate an unplanned ministry. More than a decade ago, the women who both craft the quilts and pray over them began a bible study with a quilting theme. This theme was explained on the program for the celebration.
"If our lives are like a quilt, then surely God is the Divine Quilter. How lovingly He gathers up the scraps and remnants and leftovers of our experiences, our brokenness and our joy. With the skillful needlework of grace, He stitches it all together to make a wonderful whole," the program read.
Joyce Schrepel, the group's guiding hand, helped the women in that bible study craft a project to reinforce what they were learning.
"I taught them to make a table runner," she recalled.
The quilt ministry grew out of this study and this project.
"Someone challenged us to make prayer quilts for those with needs," Schrepel said.
"It kind of mushroomed from there," Marian Wiese said. "It grew and other people joined in."
Wiese is both a quilter and has been a recipient of a prayer quilt as was her husband, LaMonte, who died last year of brain cancer. She said she initially felt she didn't need a quilt when she had knee surgery, but was grateful to have received one.
"We have touched so many lives," Wiese said.
Each of the quilts measures 45x60 inches and takes approximately 12 hours to make. Each is unique, because a variety of patterns and fabric are used.
"She [Schrepel] comes up with all kinds of patterns," said Mary Kenyon, one of the 15 women who meet on alternate Tuesday evenings to quilt.
The former owner of a quilt shop, Kenyon said she became involved with the group as soon as her schedule allowed her to do so. She believes the fellowship shared by the women is an integral part of the ministry.
"The quilting forms this community of women doing it together, and having it become a ministry is the best part," Kenyon explained.
The women meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays every month. The ability to sew is not a required skill to participate. The women can engage in other related activities such as pressing fabric, cutting quilt blocks, or pinning the top, batting and backing together.
"Nobody gets to just sit around," Kenyon said.
In addition to working during the allotted time, some women take home projects to work on, according to Schrepel. They may finish quilt tops or hand-stitch the bindings to finish the quilts.
The ministry relies entirely on donations -- either financial support or material donations. Schrepel said one woman donated over 300 yards of fabric. Batting is purchased in bulk by the bolt.
For her, quilting is a creative process, one which includes the same elements other visual artists consider in their work, but prayer adds a unique component.
"I love design," Schrepel said. "I love color. I think the most satisfying part is praying for the individual."
Regardless of who works on a quilt or where the work is done, all of the quilts are finished in the same way -- with prayer.
"The last step is to put the ties in," Schrepel explained. "We put the quilt on the table and pray for the individual."
For those, like Sims, who have received quilts, that final step may be the one most appreciated.
"I don't know how you make it if you don't have strong faith," she said, referring to the battle many wage with cancer.
