100 Good Wishes Quilt

"She must offer the child as an adopted son, by symbol, to other powerful families in her clan. Yet what friends had she? She thought and she pondered and she devised this plan. From the head of each of the highest one hundred families in the Empire, she required a bolt of the finest silk. From the silks she commanded the palace tailors to cut one hundred small pieces and from these make a robe for her child. Thus he belonged, by symbol, to one hundred strong and noble families, and under their shelter the gods would fear to harm him."
Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck

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 families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.
Parents adopting from China have taken on this tradition by creating One Hundred Good Wishes quilts for their children. With each fabric piece that is given to the new parents, a wish for the child is also sent, written on paper so that the child will always know the wishes made just for them.

We would love you to be a part of our One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt

All you have to do is sent us a 10 inch square of fabric, and a wish.
Ideas for selecting fabric squares:*Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.*100% cotton fabric or a fabric that is best sewing a quilt.*If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than 1 square of fabric. It would be so special to include good wishes from all members of your family!! In China, these quilts were originally made from garments of family and friends, which would surround the child with luck/good wishes.(Note: Each wish note should be attached to different sets of fabric squares as per above measurements).

Now what about the wish?
Write your wish on a piece of paper no larger than 6x6, and attach a small piece of the fabric. You have a lot of freedom with how you create your wish. People find their inspiration in many different ways; you can use song lyrics, a quote, bible verse or even a word with its definition to create your wish from. You can make your wish as simple as you want (e.g. “I wish you joy in your life”) to a poem written especially for this occasion. How creative you want to get with the presentation is also your call.