Adoption quilt

Some of you might be interested so I thought I would post this letter here as well as our adoption blog!
Dear Family and Friends;
Michael and I are thrilled to let you know we are on the official list to adopt a baby girl from China. Many of you know that we have been working on this “paperchase” for months now and we are thrilled this part is over. The wait for our baby girl continues to grow and it may be up to 2 years before we get our blessed referral. A referral is when China matches you with a baby and you receive all the information including pictures of your child. After the referral, you travel to China within 3 months to complete your adoption.

We would like to invite you to be a part of our first gift to our daughter and hope you will participate.

There is no deadline! This is something we will work on for the next year

There is a tradition in the northern part of China to give a new baby a Bai Jia Bei, or a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. The custom has been picked up by adopting parents here and other parts of the world. I would like to take part in this tradition.

The custom is to ask family and friends to send a piece of cloth and a note card with a wish written on it. The squares of fabric are quilted together to make a wish quilt. The note cards are put in a special place for the child to read when he/she gets older. A small swatch of the fabric is attached to the note card to recognize the wish with the square in the quilt. The quilt contains the love 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 have asked a few of my friends to help in actually making the quilt and I am thrilled to get to learn quilting.


Examples of the quilt and some ideas can be found at Avas Quilt!!

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

Here are the directions:
1. Find a piece of 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be old or new. It can represent you or just be a piece that caught your eye. Wash the fabric to get the treatment off, I forgot what it is called.
2. Cut two squares. 1- 8x8 inch square and a 1x1 inches.
3. On a 4x6 note card (3x5 is good, too) Write or type a wish, hope, thought, a poem, or a quote you love. Anything that inspires you. Attach the small swatch to the card stock.
4. Drop it in the mail to me.Ill give you our address if you are interested.
If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to ask. I truly appreciate this. I know how busy everyone is now a days.
I will keep everyone posted on our progress. We will have a link on our adoption blog and will post all squares and wishes that we receive. Our blog is www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com. We are so thankful for all of the prayers and encouragement you have given us. The wait will be long, but the reward will be greater!
Michael and Amy