Members of a North Suffolk church on Sunday dedicated the 400th quilt in its Prayers and Squares ministry.

The group at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church started in 2004 when church member Evelyn Jones and her husband both were fighting cancer. They received a prayer quilt from the ministry at their daughter’s church.

“I knew we had some quilters in our church, so after I started feeling better I asked them if they would like to begin this ministry in our church, and they said they would,” Jones said.

Prayers and Squares is an international organization that promotes the gifts of prayer and quilts for people experiencing medical problems, bereavement or other crises.

Members can request quilts for family members or friends they know experiencing trouble, and the quilt ministry makes the quilts and leaves untied pieces of yarn on them. Then, the quilt is dedicated during a Sunday service, and members are invited to tie a piece of yarn while saying a prayer for the recipient. Whoever requested the quilt then delivers it to the recipient.

“We’ve had some amazing stories,” Jones said. “It certainly helps the recipients, from the stories and thank-you notes we get back.”

One recipient who was in a nursing home wouldn’t even get out of bed until she received the quilt, Jones said. When she received the quilt, she draped it over her walker and went around showing it to everybody.

The quilts help not only the recipients, but also the members of the ministry, Jones said.

“We just get such a blessing from it,” Jones said. They’ve also gained practical skills — Jones didn’t even know how to sew when she started the group but has learned from the other ladies.

The group meets every other Saturday for about two hours. The members also work on their projects at home.

Anyone, even if not a church member, is welcome in the group as long as they are dedicated to its mission of encouraging prayer through quilts, Jones said.

For more information on the ministry, visit www.prayerquilt.org. To contact St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, call 238-3550.