the long and winding road...

100 Good Wishes Quilt: I have been told, there is a tradition in parts of China that in order to give a child a good start in life, a quilt is created from fabrics provided by friends and family. Each of these fabrics are supposed to represent a good wish for the child's future. It is very popular in the Chinese adoption community to create these 100 good wishes quilts. The way its done is that people send a 8" or so square of fabric along with a wish for the child's future. The squares are made into a quilt and the wishes are saved in an album along with a small scrap of the fabric for a keepsake. I think it is a lovely tradition. Because it is difficult, if not impossible, for some people to collect the squares just from friends and as an additional bond within DTC groups, swaps are often conducted. In fact, there is an entire yahoo group devoted to the quilts called OHGWQ "One Hundred Good Wishes Quilts" --I am, not surprisingly, a member!!!

Let's just start by saying, I know nothing about quilting. However, I was convinced by a Joann's employee that if I took the Quilting 1, 2, and 3 classes --a total of 12 hours of instruction--I would learn enough to be able to make a simple quilt for Baby Girl myself. So, here goes. I signed up this Saturday and will begin in a few weeks. Meanwhile I've been collecting the fabrics and wishes from others and went out and purchased some fabric of my own to share. As you can see it is pink, of course, and has little garden type pix on it. Some people do fancy wishcards and others are very simple. I decided it would be fun to do something a little involved and VOILA!!! pictured is my creation. It took me about 7 hours to make about 21 of them. I got lots quicker as I moved along. But, it was fun. I wanted something kind of special. Now we'll just have to see how this quilting thing comes along.

I'm going to purchase fabrics for the class quilt cuz I figure I'll make lots of mistakes. Then, by the time I'm ready to make the real thing, it should be quite a bit better. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. The pic is of one of the fabrics I chose to send out and the wish which reads:

I wish you Health,
So you may enjoy each day in comfort.

I wish you the Love of
friends and family,
And Peace within your heart.

I wish you the Wisdom to choose priorities,
For those things that really matter in life.

I wish you Generosity so you may share,
all good things that come to you.

I wish you Happiness and Joy
And Blessings for each New Year.

I wish you the best of everything,
That you so well deserve.