100 Good Wishes Quilt

Dear Family and Friends,
There is a tradition in the northern part of China of making a Bai Jia Bei or "100 Good Wishes Quilt" to welcome and celebrate a new life.  The quiltmaker invites 100 people to conribute a single square patch of cloth.  Much of the time , the squares were scraps from their worn clothing and it is said that the luck, energy and good wishes of the people who wore these clothes, now surrounds the child when he/she is wrapped in the quilt.  The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.  For us this quilt will represent the love, support, and prayers of our family and friends.  The squares do not need to be from your old clothing, but can be scraps or newly purchasd material-anything that has a special meaning to you.  We would love for you to send a square to add to our baby's keepsake quilt.  If your kids would like to send seperate squares and wishes or blessings, that would be wonderful too!  If you are interested, here is what you need to do.

1) 7" x 7" square(s) of 100% cotton material (washed and ironed before cutting the square to allow for shrinkage).  If you send more than one square they can be identical or of different material.

2) Along with your quilt square(s) please include a "wish" which could be a prayer, poem, thoughtful quote, Bible Verse, original thought, or whatever you choose, on a piece of paper along with your name.

3)  On this piece of paper with the wish and your name, paste a small square of the fabric (can be about 1" x 1") that your sending for the quilt.  This small swatch will help us to identify your fabric within the quilt.  The piece of paper can be as simple or as fancy as you would lik to make it and will be kept in a scrapbook for our baby to read.  PLease keep your wish on one side of the paper, or use 2 pieces front only so that we can paste them into a scrapbook.  I know that we will all love to read the blessings from each of you  and show our baby the fabric you have contributed within the quilt.  If the fabric has special meaning to you, please included that information on the paper as well.

It would be wonderful if you can send this into us as soon as possible.  We would like to have the fabric collected by mid summer. If you do not have our new home address, please e-mail us at laxton@htc.net.

Thank you so much!  When the quilt is complete, we will post pictures on the website.  We appreciate all your prayers and support and especially your help in making this wonderful keepsake for our baby.

The Laxton Family