Prayer Blankets

Yesterday, I went to help tie prayer blankets at my church. They meet about once a month but this was my first time. I was the youngest person there by about 50 years or more but they made me feel very welcome and everyone was really nice. The quilts get made ahead of time but we stitch and tie so the quilt attaches to the batting and the backing. It actually goes pretty fast when you have enough people working on it. Then people take these home and cut off the extra batting and backing and then bind them. That's why they meet so infrequently, because of all the work done outside the meetings. It was really fun and made me think about starting to quilt but my mother in law quilts and I can already see it is a big job. Plus, the start up is kind of expensive (fabric, tools, space to work, etc) and I wouldn't know what to do with the quilts I make because we already have so many from her. I love having hobbies but I don't like the kind of hobbies where you have no use for the product or you end up with 100 of the same thing (even if the patterns and designs are different). So back to the blankets. After the blankets are finished, we send them off to people who need prayers. When placed on your lap (they're about that size) you are "covered" with the prayers people are sending your way. I think it's a really nice idea. They get sent to parishioners, nursing homes, and in some cases, people in foreign countries. I do wonder what people do with the blankets after they are out of crisis, like do they give them back? Do they keep them for the future? Pass them on? I'm sure I'll learn as I keep attending meetings.