Wartman Family China Adoption - Good Wishes Quilt

Wartman Chinese Adoption Info
There are over 1.2 million orphans in China currently. We want to give one of them a family, home and great future.
Click here to listen to Chinese music as you read

100 Good Wishes Quilt

We started hand piecing the quilt in March. We're actually making each square into an octagon and are putting pretty red calico triangles at each corner to make it back into a square, so the quilt will have red diamonds all over it. Email me for my address if you'd like to send a square!

More pages on our site

100 Wishes Quilt

What is a Good Wishes Quilt?

To welcome a new child, a tradition exists in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei ( good wishes quilt). The family invites friends and family to contribute a square of cloth along with their wish for the baby. Part of the square goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other goes into a scrapbook with the wish for the child. The quilt is then passed down from generation
to generation.

Here are pictures of a few Good Wishes Quilts that I saw online. They're so pretty! nestor3full.jpg (233956 bytes)

Want to participate in our quilt?

Here's what you do:

1. Choose a 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a
fabric store, fabric you already have, or something that is special to you, or maybe even fabric that has special family meaning.

2. Prewash the fabric so it shrinks and is clean; then iron it
so that it is straight enough for cutting.

3. Cut one square measuring 8"x8" and smaller piece to include in our scrapbook with your wish.

4. Add your wish. The wish can be your own words or thoughts, a favorite poem or quote, a blessing for the new arrivals, a prayer for them, a favorite verse, or whatever. Place it on a card with a scrap of your fabric glued to the card. Your wish can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like. If you feel creative and want to decorate it, that would be great too. Do what you like doing. For those of you who wish you can also include a picture of yourself so she can see who sent the wish. We'll have a special Wish Box or scrapbook for the wishes.

Some photos of OUR quilt in progress

	Here is how the basic quilt will look. These are the squares I've pieced so far. The 8x8" squares I cut into octagons and hand pieced red calico triangles to make them back into squares. There will be a total of 10 rows with 9 blocks in each row, then several inches of border around each side. I plan to hand quilt it.
	More squares we've received that I haven't pieced yet. The goal is 100 squares. As of 5/26, we have 82 squares.
	Good Wish cards for the scrapbook. Each wish or letter or note has a swatch of the fabric with it, so we'll be able to remember who sent what fabric.

Letter we sent to extended family and friends

Dear family and friends,

Tom and I are eight months into the process of adopting from China. It's quite a long process right now, so we'll probably be waiting several more months (7-10) before we are welcoming our new daughter into our home. She will be young, probably between 12 - 24 months old when we get her and her name will be Adelie Mei Wartman. While we are waiting for her arrival, we are working on a project that we welcome your help with. We are creating something called 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 family and friends to contribute a square patch of cloth. The 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.

If you would like to contribute to this project, we would love it! Here is what we would like you to do:

1. Choose ANY 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from clothing or from a fabric store. It can be a design and color that you like. It could be a bit of fabric that you've used to create something else wonderful for your family.

2. Cut one 8X8 square from the fabric. Also, cut a scrap piece of that same fabric that you can attach to your wish card.

3. Include your "good wish note" and attach the scrap piece of fabric. Be as creative as you would like. It can be as simple as on a piece of paper, or you can make it like a scrap book card. We will place all your wishes in a scrapbook.

Ideas for selecting fabric squares:

*Select a fabric that is meaningful to you, maybe that has been a part of the family in some way. (Tom says "no old diapers, please") :-)

*100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears well.

*If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than 1 set 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.

Ideas for good wishes note:

Well... what would you wish for a child to have in her life? Some ideas that come to mind are good health, perseverance, compassion, and sense of humor. Keep in mind that she will read your note numerous times during her life.

I plan to create this quilt by hand and hope to get started this month, so if you have a chance to send a square soon, that would be great, as I'd love to get planning the design. You're welcome to pass this email along to other family members I might not have had on this list. Thanks for taking a few minutes from your busy schedules to help us create this very special keepsake. This is something that she will cherish for the rest of her life.

Thanks!!
Love,
Nancy Ann & Tom and Georgia, Calvin, Martin and Camille

www.UsborneFairies.com - Your online source for Usborne Fairy Books and Fun!