Now that Jason is gone for two months it gives me even more time to think about going to China and bringing home our daughter. I read different blogs every night from other families who have adopted from China. I find it so helpful to hear their stories and it doesn't make it such a mystery going into it for the first time. A special thing that I have read from several blogs is the 100 Wishes Quilt. I think it would be very special for Jaida to have a quilt made especially for her. I come from a family with lots of talent. My Grandmother among her talents has always been great at sewing/quilting; my Mother's talents include sewing (curtains, dresses,hemming), baking, and quilting; Jeannine (my sister) has so many talents she must have gotten my share too -sports, any craft, baking (including sticky buns and egg nog raisin bread) and growing up my two cousins Wendy and Karen had the musical talent. I am still searching for my talent-I have no musical talent (realized at a very young age), hate sports, tried pottery, cross stitch, scrap-booking-closet full of half finished projects and still haven't found my talent. I tried sewing but a two hour Winnie the Pooh costume took me two weeks and didn't last the night. Maybe everyone doesn't have a talent but I want to complete this quilt for Jaida. Hopefully my friends and family can help me with this project and send a wish and piece of cloth (and someone teach me quickly how to quilt-lol)
I copied this from the internet to give people an idea of what we want to do.
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 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 can go into a creative memory scrapbook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the prayers, luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. Select a fabric that is meaningful to you, it doesn’t have to be new- a project you started but didn’t finish, a piece of skirt, something you thought was pretty at Walmart or if you are a parent it can be from a child’s clothing. (In China, these quilts were originally made from garments of family and friends, which would surround the child with luck/good wishes.)The purpose of the 100 Good wishes quilt is to create a quilt with each of the quilting squares associated with a specific person/wish. This type of quilt is common in China and has become popular in the Chinese adoption community. The person sending the piece of fabric also sends a wish on a piece of paper for a scrapbook for the person who will eventually receive the quilt. The wish can be for good health, something religious or some other positive life outcome. The square should be a 6x6 inch piece of fabric (or there about) then we can cut it to the correct size . It is ideal if you place a piece of the fabric on the paper containing the wish so that we can associate the wish with the fabric and the person who sent the fabric.The Wish: Your wish and the way it is presented can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. The wish might be a prayer, favorite poem, a heart felt random thought, a Bible verse or a quote. You can write it on an index card, white paper, stationary, lined paper, acid free paper- whatever you like. You can hand write or use a computer, make it scrap-booky or stamped - whatever you like- this is your wish/prayer for our daughter, we want it to reflect your personality.Some of the wishes I have read include- I wish you more good hair days than bad hair days, I wish for you to find the love of God, I wish for you happiness …… Let your personality shine!
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