Quilting a Worship Service

Back in the day (when my grannys I never knew had at least two or more "greats" before their name), there was a very common regular gathering known as the Quilting Bee. 

But long before all the women of the community gathered around to begin phase II of creating a quilt with their needles, the owner had done the majority of the prep work to assure that a beautiful, useful, warm and pleasing quilt would emerge at the end of the "bee." 

Phase I is called "piecing", and a like a lot of other crafts, it takes a lot more time, work and patience than one would anticipate before ever getting to the fun part that we enjoy and that makes the big difference.

So I'll tell you about quilting and, worship leader, you think about the time, work, patience and sweat you'll be putting in before anyone arrives for the party.... 



Step One:
Choose the fabric you want to use.   
Note that 5 songs is a good start for a 25-30 minute worship set. 

Hint:  good idea to only choose fabric you, or the person you're giving this quilt to, actually like at some level.

Step Two:

Put the five fabrics together into an order you personally like 

When you sew your five songs together, the thread you use can be: 

• Tempo (fast, slow)
• Time Signature (4/4 driving, 6/8 lilt, slow 4 anthem, etc)
• Key (same or related closely for a nice transition)
• Instrumentation (full band, acoustic guitar only, piano intro, etc)
• Focusing words - a key word from the song - explain what it means
• Testimony - yours, or, better yet someone's from the congregation
• Prayer - avoid the filler-type blah blah prayers - actually say something intelligent to the Lord. 

Here's your Order of Worship for yourself, the guys in the tech booth, the team members... kinda ugly, but functional. 

And here's the Order of Worship you give the church secretary to print in the bulletin for the entire congregation to see. 

Step Three:

Choose your border fabric. 

Scripture itself -- His Word read, recited together, projected in silence during instrumental bridge, printed in the bulletin, from the back of the hymnal --  ties the entire work together. 

(PS - there's virtually no such thing as a quilt without a border)

See how it pulls all the colors in and frames them up as one flowing piece? 

Not a quilt yet, but sure is getting there!  Keep working!

Step Four:

Pin the pieced top to the fill material and the backing. 

Prepare clear written cues for your sound operator, the person clicking through the lyrics, the lighting operator, the band, the singers, the deacons who will come forward to take the offering, etc.  

It's going to be a quilt soon!   Everyone's come over at 10:45 am on Sunday. 

See how the top you've made, the batting in the middle (your sound and lighting equipment) and the background piece of fabric (your back-of-the-house tech team) all fit together, pinned in place with your written notes? 

Step Five:

Welcome everyone who shows up and let the quilting begin! 

They know where to sit, they've brought their own needles, your ushers at the door have handed them the thread as they arrived and now it's time for some community joy! 

Here's what one lady quilted last week.  She always sits on the far left side, five rows back on the aisle, leaving an open chair to her right.  Seven years ago, her husband would have been sitting there quilting, too, but he can't (or is it won't) come any more.   She doesn't say much to those around her, but the weekly Quilting Bees are the highlight of her week (though you'd never guess it from her face).  Beats answering customer service calls from people who've lost their cable TV all day, Monday - Friday. 

And here's what the back looks like - it's really a work of art in and of itself.  At upper right, you can see the part left-side-five-rows-back lady did - really coming together when everyone else adds their harmony, style and voice, isn't it?  

Step Six:

Give it away. 

Did you know that well over 95% of all quilts made are given away?  It's the rare quilt that stays in the home of the person who pieced it for very long. 

We make quilts for others.  

We make worship for Him. 

(Bam!)

Thanks and credit to Tim Suel, Great Dad and Husband who also happens to be the Worship Leader at Grace Bible Church, College Station, TX, for reminding me about some things I originally presented on this subject back in '06!