100 Good Wishes Quilt ~Last Call!

Some of the pieces that we have already received, do you see yours here?

The time has come. I am sending out one last announcement requesting quilt squares for Myah's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. I started asking for squares right after receiving her referral (almost 2 years ago, yikes!). I really wanted to wait until I saw her face before I started this special project for her. I didn't realize that our TA would arrive so quickly and before we knew it we were told to plan on leaving in a week! As you can imagine, I put this on the back burner for a while, I have been so busy since bringing her home! I have several very special squares and notes already but I would like to have a few more (or alot more, whichever is the case!) in order to complete it. I have had a few people send me squares recently and I think this would be the perfect time to finish what I started! I also got the bug to finish it after Grandma passed away in November, she was a wonderful quilter and we each have quilts that she made for us, except for Myah. After going through her belongings, we found the original note that she wrote to Myah. She wanted Phyllis to re-write on good stationary because she didn't think her handwriting was pretty enough. I think you know which note I will use now! I know the next few weeks will be difficult for Myah so I thought this might be a good way to cheer her up, she loves getting things in the mail! So if you would like to participate please follow the instructions below. I just cut and pasted the information that I had on my baby jelly beans site 2 years ago so forgive me if some things are out of date! A few of you have asked about her initials, she has a few (wink), but we use MWS. Myah Wen Li Fei S(mylastname) is her full name, Wen Ting was her first name in China and I loved that I could use a W because both Mark and Dayton have "W"'s for their middle initial as well. Actually, she has the same initials as Mark and I love that! It is funny because out of all of the letters in the alphabet, she loves to find "W"'s!

I can't wait to see what you pick! The next order of business is finding someone to quilt it for me! Any suggestions? This would be a great time for me to learn how to sew! Ok, you can stop laughing any time now! Hope to hear from you! I know I won't get to this project right away, if you could get them to me by the end of March I would appreciate it.

These are the instructions for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt that we sent out before Myah arrived. We would love to have you participate. Please email Leslie at daysmom@charter.net to request our address.
Dear family and friends:
While we are waiting for the arrival of Myah we are working on a project that we would appreciate your assistance with. We are creating a “100 Good Wishes Quilt”.

To welcome and celebrate new life, there is a tradition in the Northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or “100 Good Wishes Quilt”. The custom is to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is passed down from generation to generation. We would love to have our family and friends send us a square, but please don’t feel like you have to:

Here is what you do:

Choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a piece of clothing or the fabric store.
2. Cut one 9” square that will be used to make a quilt.

On a sheet of paper or note card, write out a “good wish note” along with your name. Attach a SMALL piece of the same fabric to the note. The notes will be placed in a scrapbook which we will give to Myah when she is older. She will be able to read your good wishes and then find your square on her quilt.

Ideas for Selecting Fabric Squares:

-Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.

-100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better.

-If there are several members of your family, please feel free to send more than one good wish note and piece of fabric. In China , these quilts were originally made from the garments of family and friends surrounding the child with their good wishes.

Idea for Good Wishes Note: What would you wish for Myah to have in her life? Is there a prayer or anything else you would like to share with her? You may also want to include the reason you chose the fabric.

It would be great to get the fabric soon before Myah comes home. The adoption of Myah has been prayed for and nurtured by so many of you, and it will be incredibly meaningful to have you be a part of this.