100 Good Wishes Quilt
While we are waiting for our son, Max, I am working on a project with which we need your assistance. I am creating a "100 Good Wishes Quilt."
What is a 100 Good Wishes Quilt?
A quilt made to welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of fabric along with a wish for the baby. The square for fabric goes into the quilt, and another smaller piece of the same fabric goes on a note card with a wish for the child. Then the note card will be placed into a memory book. The Chinese believe when the 100 pieces of fabric are sewn together, the quilt will contain the energy, luck, and good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed. The quilt will then be passed down from generation to generation.
I have made some changes to this Chinese tradition. I am calling it a "100 Blessings Quilt." Instead of writing wishes to Max we are asking for you to write blessings to him in the form of poetry, scripture, favorite quote or saying, or a note, as long or as short as you like, whatever your heart desires. When he is older and looks at his quilt and asks who gave a specific fabric square, we can go to his memory book and find the note card with the matching fabric and read what blessing was written to him and who wrote it. This is a way he will know how much he was loved and wanted, even before he was here, not only by his family but also from our friends and the community we live in. We love the idea of welcoming Max into our home with a quilt that holds the blessings from you.
Thank you, Paul and Kim
While we are waiting for our son, Max, I am working on a project with which we need your assistance. I am creating a "100 Good Wishes Quilt."
What is a 100 Good Wishes Quilt?
A quilt made to welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of fabric along with a wish for the baby. The square for fabric goes into the quilt, and another smaller piece of the same fabric goes on a note card with a wish for the child. Then the note card will be placed into a memory book. The Chinese believe when the 100 pieces of fabric are sewn together, the quilt will contain the energy, luck, and good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed. The quilt will then be passed down from generation to generation.
I have made some changes to this Chinese tradition. I am calling it a "100 Blessings Quilt." Instead of writing wishes to Max we are asking for you to write blessings to him in the form of poetry, scripture, favorite quote or saying, or a note, as long or as short as you like, whatever your heart desires. When he is older and looks at his quilt and asks who gave a specific fabric square, we can go to his memory book and find the note card with the matching fabric and read what blessing was written to him and who wrote it. This is a way he will know how much he was loved and wanted, even before he was here, not only by his family but also from our friends and the community we live in. We love the idea of welcoming Max into our home with a quilt that holds the blessings from you.
Thank you, Paul and Kim
WHAT IS NEEDED:
1 - 12 inch square of washable fabric of your choosing, the fabric can be meaningful to you or just fabric you like, here are a few examples, Mark goes to Texas Tech so I will find Raider fabric for him, my sister in-law loves cats, hers will probably have cats on it, or my nieces will probably pick their favorite color in polk-a-dots, or checks, it can be from clothes that you no longer wear that you just like the fabric. Make it easy on yourself. It is whatever you want.
On a note card, stationary, typing paper, ect. You can make it as elaborate or as simple as you like. Write your blessing and attach the matching piece of fabric. Please be sure to put your name on it.
If you would like to participate, you can email me and I will give you my mailing address.
Thank you for helping us with this project for Max.
Here is an example:
