How Close Should the Knots Be on a Prayer Quilt?
- The sewing of a prayer quilt is often completed by members of a church congregation that become involved with a ministry that takes on the responsibility of creating prayer quilts. A prayer quilt is given to a church member as a gift; this gift is of the physical lap quilt and acts as a representation of the prayers and thoughts of the congregation toward the church member. Reasons for the creation of a prayer quilt include a time of personal crisis for the church member and a serious illness.
- Each prayer quilt is designed with threads placed around the edge of the quilt. These threads should be about 3 to 4 inches in length to allow more than one knot to be tied on each thread. Prayer quilts are often made as lap quilts of dimensions between 40 to 50 inches wide and 50 to 60 inches in length, the website Prayer Quilt reports. The distance between each tie on the quilt can be decided by the designers, with a gap of between 4 and 7 inches between the ties. Each prayer quilt should be equipped with 80 to 100 ties, depending on the size of the prayer quilt created.
- A prayer quilt should have each knot representing a prayer tied as a square knot, secure enough to rarely become untied as the quilt is handled and transported. Each square knot should be tied as high up the ties as possible, so extra knots can be tied when space becomes limited on the threads. Square knots are tied by placing the left thread over the right and pulling the tie under the loop. The right thread is then placed over the left and the tie pulled under the loop. As square knots are strong, the recipient can handle each knot that represents a prayer said on their behalf. Subsequent knots on the same ties can be tied on top of the previous knot.
- A church congregation is usually asked to say a prayer and tie a knot in the prayer quilt by the church leader during a service. The quilt is then placed by the altar or in a position where it can be easily accessed by the congregation to tie prayer knots. A card carrying the name of the proposed recipient and the reasons why the quilt is being created is usually displayed with the quilt.