Squares + Wishes = Squishes

Can you Spare a Square ?

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a square patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. The main 8×8 patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other small part of the cloth goes into a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the thoughts, prayers, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric.

Would you like to send us a square?? Here’s how: Find a good quality, 100% cotton piece of cloth that you like. Prewash the fabric in the washer, cold water. Cut it into a square, 8×8 inches. This is the square that goes into the quilt. Next, cut a 1×1 inch square and paste it to a card (can be an index card, piece of card stock, etc.). Beside the 1×1 square, write a wish…this can be as simple as a few words of good wishes, lines from a song, poem, bible verse, etc. Include your information…name, how you found us, and where you’re from. This way, we can have a record of which quilt square goes with what wish and how many places our wishes came from!