#38

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
-Anatole France

From Wisconsin

This is a cute green gingham (I love gingham) with bugs and flowers on it.

#37

Chinese Arbor Day.

#36

Chinese Silk Road - I love the color choice.

#35

This is another Culture squish. It is about the color red and it's significance in the Chinese culture. Beautiful fabric!!

#34

This is the first square I've gotten from my Chinese Culture Swap. There are 40 participants in this swap. We each chose a different topic to write about and then picked a fabric to match.

This is the square for Chinese Lantern Festival. The fabric is really depicting Japanese culture items but it is Asian, nonetheless. And it has pictures of lanterns. I like it.

#33

Our with for you is JOY...
in each new discovery life brings,
in each challenge you encounter,
in knowing you are embraced in unconditional love.

From Wisconsin

This is the first duplicate fabric I have recieved. It's cute, though.

#32

I wish that you always have love in your heart, a smile on your face, dreams to inspire you, warmth in your soul and that you know how very much you are loved.

From Oregon

I love the tea cups!

#31

We all share this journey to our children from afar. May your family be blessed and stengthened during the journey, and may your hearts be filled with LOVE.

Proverbs 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

From West Virginia

Pretty! Purple! Butterflies!

#30

With butterfly kisses and ladybug hugs
sweet dreams precious, for you are loved.
-Diana Marcium

May you wrap this quilt around you and find peace, happiness and safety all the days of your life.

From Missouri

#29

Ladybug
by Maria Fleming

Ladybugs all dressed in red
Strolling through the flowerbed.
If I were tiny just like you
I'd creep among the flowers too!

May this quilt warm your body and comfort your soul.

From Kentucky

#28

May you always have faith to face all things
May you always have hop to conquer all things
May you always have love to endure all things
Faith, Hope and Love

From Columbus, Ohio

I love pink! Before I had daughters, I didn't. But I do now. I like the butterflies in the fabric, too.

#27

When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are.
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true.

Dream big! Your dreams will take you everywhere.

From Wisconsin

This is pink flannel that says, "Sweet Pea" and has cute baby girly things.

#26

Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.

From Florida

I love this fabric. Cute baby ladybugs and little white and yellow flowers.

#25

A Babe in the House is a Wellspring of Pleasure.
-Martin Tupper

May you always find your household with the abundance of joy.

From Texas

Some more cute ladybug fabric!! I love the bright green color.

#24

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
-Jeremiah 29:11

May God bless you and your family all of your days!

From Missouri

This is pretty pink fabric with the words, "Peace Love Hope Charity." And I love the scripture verse! This wish card has a red heart brad.

#23

One hundred years from now it will not, matter, what kind of house you lived in, how much money you had, nor what your clothes were like. But the world may be a little better, because you were important in the life of a child.

From Pennsylvania

The fabric is very interesting with Chinese characters on it. The red flowers are pretty.

#22

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
-Confucius

From New Jersey

This is pretty heart fabric. The card is red heart embossed paper with a velum overlay. It also has a heart brad holding them together. I'm loving these brads!

#21

Love is the golden thread that ties our hearts and souls together.
-Mother Teresa

From Oregon

This is beautiful Asian print fabric. It reminds me of a watercolor painting we got in Wuhan while we were adopting Abby. The vines and the flowers are almost exactly alike. The wish card has the background of the fabric scanned in and the words are on a vellum page attached with flower brads. I'm getting some good ideas for the next time we send out squishes.

#20

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; Loving someone deeply gives you courage.
-Lao Tzu

From California

This is cute pink and green fabric with colorful ladybugs. The wish card is done with a cute flower brad holding the cards together. It is also decorated with ladybug stickers.

#19

We wish for you a future as bright as the stars.

From New York

#18

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
-Chinese proverb

From Michigan

I like the subtle colors of this square. It looks like a bunch of umbrella tops. It has gold metalic threads.

#17

A Child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.
-Chinese proverb

From New Jersey

This is a cute flannel fabric with pictures and words. This would make a cozy quilt all by itself (if I found a bigger piece).

#16

I carry your heart
by E. E. Cummings

From Virginia Beach, Virginia

This is a bright yellow fabric in the same pattern as #11 and #15. The poem is beautiful, but too long to type.

#15

Life is like a patchwork quilt,
Pieces of joys and sorrow,
Laughter and tears,
Stitched together to form
The whole of our yesterdays,
Todays, and tomorrows.

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE, DREAM

From Indiana

This wish is so appropriate for this quilt. I'm sure that many joys and sorrows will go into the stitching of the quilt. As well as many prayers of hope. I like this square. It's like #11 - only with a pink background.

#14

Follow Your Bliss
And The Universe
Will Open Doors for You
Where There Were Only Walls
-Joseph Campbell

From New Jersey

This is cute bug fabric, too. It also has music notes -- how appropriate.

#13

A wish for you on dragonfly wings
For lots of love and special things
For health and joy and friendship too
A loving family all for you
May hugs and kisses keep you warm
All within your family's arms

From Louisianna

I love this fabric. It's so bright and cheery. And the bugs are too cute. The poem they wrote is beautiful. I especially like the part about "hugs and kisses."

#12

In Our Life There Is,
A Single Color,
As On An Artist's Palette,
Which Provides The Meaning of Life.
It Is The Color Of Love.
-Marc Chagall

From Hawaii

This fabric is so cute. I love the pink flip flops and the yellow Hawaiian flowers. I love how they picked something that symbolizes their home state. The wish card also has a stamp on it with the Chinese symbol for "happiness."

#11

Our wish to you and your family:
Blessed are THE CHILDREN... for theirs is a world of wonder.
A child's love is like the dawn unfolding... bright, new and full of hope.

From Florida

This is pretty blue fabric with white daisies and red ladybugs (kinda like my background on the other blog). It will blend in nicely with the other fabrics. This is the only wish so far that has included a picture of the family who sent it.

#10

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
-Hodding Carter

May your roots grow deep and your wings soar.

From New Jersey.

This cute fabric has butterflies, ladybugs and dragonflies. They also scanned the fabric and printed it on the wish card.

#9

A song by Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder.
You get your fill to eat, but always keep that hunger.
May you never take one single breath for granted.
God forbid love ever leaves you empty handed.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens.
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance.
And when you get the choice to sit out or dance,
I hope you dance!

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance.
Never settle for the path of least resistance.
Living might mean taking chances, but they're worth taking.
Loving might be a mistake but it's worth making.

Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter.
When you come close to selling out, reconsider.
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance.
And when you get the choice to sit out or dance,
I hope you dance!

From Washington

This is a beautiful song/wish. They scanned in the fabric and printed the wish on that. Very clever. I love the soft pink color.

#8

The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt within the heart.
-Helen Keller

From Ohio

This is a bright red fabric with little white stars. The wish has a gold star brad attaching the swatch. Very cute.

#7

Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them.
Have great dreams and dare to live them.
Have tremendous expectations and believe in them.
-Norman Vincent Peale

From Kansas

I like the blue background of this fabric and the hearts, stars, moon, and sun.

#6

We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children

that makes the heart too big for the body.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Illinois

This is gorgeous fabric... beautiful blues on a black background with gold metalic running through it.

#5

Some say that blood

Is thicker than water.

I say that love

Is thicker than blood.

From Kentucky.

This is a pretty blue fabric with red flowers. The wish has a cute heart brad used to attach the fabric swatch.

#4

Dear God,

Please bless this child with love and happiness throughout her lifetime. Allow her to feel and accept her family's love as a baby and as she grows up. May she always feel your presence in her life and know she is loved by you. Amen.

From Saskatchewan, Canada

What an awesome prayer!! And I like the colorful ladybugs.

#3

May the sun shine, all day long,

everything go right, and nothing wrong.

May those you love bring love back to you,

and may all the wishes you wish come true!

From Chesapeake, Virginia

This is a wimsical fabric with dogs dressed in kimonos. I love dogs!

#2

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.

For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.
-Unknown

From (the state of) Virginia

This is a wonderful adoption poem. I'm glad it will be included in the scrapbook. The fabric is red with cats and asian symbols. I also like the gold dots.

#1

You are a beautiful, bright, shining star. May all your hopes and dreams come true.
From Texas.

I love this fabric. It is a pretty shade of pink and has sparkles in it.

One Hundred Good Wishes

Welcome!

What is all this about, you ask??

In the process of reading lots of adoption blogs over the past year, I've read of several moms who have made 100 Good Wishes Quilts for their babies. In researching what that meant, I found this:

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.

I thought this sounded like something I could do while we're waiting for our referral. While waiting for Abby, we remodeled a room in the house to be her nursery. I don't (ever) want another project that big or that messy.

I have never made a quilt in my life. But I do know how to run a sewing machine and make straight stitches. My sister has made a baby quilt for each of her babies and also a few for nieces and nephews. She made Abby's red and yellow one. And I have several other family members who know about sewing and quilting, so I should have some support.

To get started, I joined a Yahoo group of families who sent their paperwork to China at the same time we did. This group is kind-of like a support group, so we can talk about what's going on in the world of Chinese Adoption and other issues. One of the ladies in the group hosted a quilt swap and I signed up.

The way it works is once everyone has signed up, you buy enough fabric to send each family an 8 inch square of fabric another smaller square of fabric attached to a "wish." This is commonly called a "squish" - combining the "square" and "wish." The wish can be anything you want for a new baby: health, happiness, love, etc. The wish is put on a 4x6 card and mailed with the fabric to each person.

The fabric is then made into a quilt and the wishes are assembled in a scrapbook so the family can reference what wish goes with what square on the quilt.

This particular swap that I joined only had 46 people in it, so I've already joined another group in hopes of getting more squishes. At some point, I also want to send a letter to friends and family to ask for participation in the new baby quilt. That way, it will be more personal.

Now that you have WAY more information than you EVER wanted to know...

I wanted to share pictures of the squishes I've gotten so far in my quest to have 100 Good Wishes. I'll start with the one I sent out to the first group.


The wish says: Thank you God, for this child. May you grant them their heart's deepest dreams and desires. May their days be filled with gladness, joy and peace thru any sadness. Fill them with love that will not depart.