Bai Jia Bei (I don't know how to pronounce it but I can do the Chinese accent really well!)

Hi to all of our family and friends,

Not much new on the adoption front. There is one thing that I am participating in that I think I may have mentioned in an earlier e-mail to you all. I am putting together a quilt for our daughter-to-be. The quilt is a Chinese tradition. It originated in northern China and it celebrates and welcomes a new life. It is called 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. The patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby and a scrap of the cloth can go into a memory book for the baby. The quilt is said to contain the luck, energy and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed z piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

Here's how it works if you are interested:

• Choose any 100% cotton fabric (not flannel). The fabric can have some significant meaning for you or it can just be something you like. Prewashing is preferred but not required. Cut an 8x8 inch square from the fabric.



• Write a wish for Ryleigh on a post-card or note card. The wish can be handwritten or typed. It can be a hope for her, thoughts on the adoption, a poem, verse, saying, advice or anything meaningful. Please sign you name.



• You also will need to cut a smaller piece of the fabric. (1 or 2 inches) and attach it to your notecard so that she will know who the fabric squares are from. We will match the wishes and the author of the card to the patches of the quilt. The notecards will go into a scrapbook.

The picture above is an example of a quilt square and wish. There is also an example of the finished quilt. If you have more than one person in your family who would like to participate, please feel free to send more than one quilt block and wish. We are trying to get 100 blocks all together so the more the merrier. Children are welcome to participate as well.

It is hard to wait for so long for our daughter so I am finding little projects like this one to keep me busy. I am not a quilter by any means, I will find someone to put it together for me.

Thanks in advance for participating. If you have questions about how it works, please e-mail me.

Kelley