100 GOOD WISHES QUILT

In the China adoption world, it is common to make a 100 Good Wishes Quilt for your expected child. Usually this happens BEFORE you get your child. I had thought about it and liked the idea but never got around to organizing it. Then, I read a fellow bloggers post about their quilt and thought it would be cool. There are so many people who are a part of Nate's journey, it would be very meaningful for our entire family to have a quilt like this.

So what is a 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, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt." It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. We ask that you please participate in this project. We love the idea of celebrating our son with a quilt that represents the good wishes for him from our family and friends. My goal is to have this done by his 2nd birthday, which will be his first full year with us and in America.

Here's how it works:

1. Send us a 5"x5" square of 100% cotton fabric with colors or a pattern that is meaningful to you. Obviously we have a boy so anything that fits a little boy would be awesome. If you are lucky enough to find fabric with a chinese pattern or images on it...even better!

2. Send your wish for Nate....it could be a short sentence of congrats, welcome home, God's will for him, a prayer, etc. This will go in a keepsake box that we have.

If you don't have our address, send me an email at ddsullivan2@msn.com. To see an example of a Good Wishes quilt, click on Sharon's name to see her blog. I'm excited about putting this project together over the next few months. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it all done!