100 Good Wishes Quilt (Bai Jia Bei)

As most of you know already, our family has been pursuing the adoption of a little girl from China. Although we started the homestudy process in October of 2005, our paperwork was sent to China on May 15th, 2006. Now all we have left to do is wait and hope for the news of our daughter. It feels like a very LONG wait. So, to pass the time, I have decided to attempt to learn more about our daughters culture by making her a traditional Bai Jia Bei or 100 Good Wishes Quilt.

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other part of the cloth will go into a creative memory book along with your wish for our daughter or our family. The idea is that the quilt will contain the luck, positive energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

So, what exactly am I asking you to do?
1) First, think about a piece of fabric that has some special meaning to you. It could be a piece of your own clothing or your child’s clothing that has special fondness or memory associated with it. It could be a part of a blanket, old curtains, fabric from a pillow case, or any other item that you hold dear (and are willing to part with of course). If you can’t identify a piece of fabric like this, than it is fine for you to go out and buy a piece that you would like to contribute. This will allow our little girls energy to fill that particular square with her own positive energy. I will need 2 pieces of the same fabric that measures at least 8” x 8” (one goes in the quilt and the other goes with the page in the book containing your wish).

Please contact me so that I can mail you a page of cardstock. This will be your page in our daughters Good Wishes book. Please do not feel pressure here. It does not need to be anything fancy, just something to distinguish your page from the next persons. However, if you want to get creative, please go crazy! Do not forget to include your wish for our daughter and/or our family. This could be a simple note, a quote to live by, a poem, a favorite nursery rhyme or something else completely. The only requirement is that it is filled with happy thoughts and positive energy. I know that this will be a treasure that our daughter and our family will read for years to come.

I am excited to get started on this project. I will be using all of Matthew’s grandmother’s quilting tools and my grandmother’s sewing machine. This feels so special and important to me, as it is a way to connect my future with our family’s past. Both of these women were extremely important in my life and I miss them a lot. I can’t wait to honor their memory through this project. As I am anxious to get started (and since I have never done anything like this before, I have no idea how long it will take me), I would truly appreciate it if you could return your fabric and card to me no later than May 31, 2007. If you have questions, please email me at seeliel@yahoo.com and I will be happy to answer them. I know and appreciate how very busy everyone is so it really means a lot to me that you are willing to take a few minutes out of your schedule to think about and consider my families future and send your positive hopes and wishes for our daughter. To those of you who have already submitted your contribution, they are beautiful...every single one of them shines a light on what incredibly special people you really are. THANK YOU!!!!