Bai Jia Be

Dear Caroline,

It is official, you are everywhere. I was flipping through the channels and on PBS is Arthur. I love that show for kids. The episode was about Binky Barnes, a character on the show, is becoming a big brother. His family is adopting a new sister for him from China. It never ceases to amaze me that even when I’m tired, God still finds a way to remind me that you are a big part of my life. It was a fun way to explain adoption to children and I imagine that if we should have biological children before you are born (highly, highly unlikely in my plans, which means nothing to God!) we’ll show it to them.

But the most interesting thing from the episode was this idea about creating something called a Bai Jia Be or a 100 Wishes Quilt. An explanation is below.

What is 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 friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other part of the cloth can go into a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The quilt 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.

We found out about 100 wishes quilts through friends who adopted a daughter from China. It is a tradition to greet the new baby with a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Although this is a Chinese tradition, it is a great tradition for any child to be welcomed this way. What a treat to read the good wishes when the child is older to know how much they were wanted!

I can completely see us doing something like this for you. Quilting is already such a large part of our family. My maternal grandmother spent a lot of her time quilting. One of my most prized mementos from her is a quilt that she made just for me. We also have a couple that she made just for herself in the new house and I will probably take them with us. You can feel the love that was put into it, and I treasure it immensely. I can only imagine how great this would be to give to you to have always. As I won’t have a pregnancy journal with you, this could be a fun gift for you. But until then I’ve decided to create a personal 100 wishes list for you just a gift from me to you.

1.) I wish that you’ll dream big. Dream huge. I believe in you!

Love always