Sophia's Blessing Quilt...An Open Invitation

January 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

While we are waiting for the arrival of our daughter, Sophia Elizabeth, from Taiwan, we are working on a project that we REALLY need your help with. We are creating something called a "100 Blessings 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 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that 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. Believing that God has called us to adopt from Taiwan, we are calling our quilt a “100 Blessings Quilt”. God, not luck, will guide Sophia’s life, so blessings are more appropriate!

We are asking you to please participate in this project. We love the idea of welcoming Sophia into our home with a quilt that represents the good wishes and blessings you are all sending her way. Here is what we would like you to do:

1. Choose ANY 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from clothing or from a fabric store. It just needs to be a design and color that you like.

2. Cut ONE 7" (pre-washed) or one 8" (un-washed) square from the fabric. Tip... if you have no idea how to work with fabric, ask for assistance at a fabric store and show them this letter. They will probably cut it for you.

3. Include your "good wish/blessing note" for Sophia. We will place all your notes in a scrapbook that we will give to our daughter someday. Also, please include a small piece of fabric on the note so we can always remember which fabric was yours!

Ideas for selecting fabric squares:

*Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.

*100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better.

*If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than 1 set of scraps. It would be so special to include good wishes/blessings from all members of your family!! In China, these quilts were originally made from garments of family and friends, which would surround the child with luck/good wishes.

Ideas for good wish/blessing note:

What would you wish for a child to have in his/her life? Some ideas that come to mind are good health, perseverance, compassion, and sense of humor. Or, what blessing do you wish to give to Sophia? Perhaps a favorite Bible verse you find meaningful, or other inspirational quote. Use that as a guide for your good wish/blessing note. Keep in mind that she will not see your note until she is older, of course. Also, you could write down why you chose the fabric that you sent, if that is especially meaningful, as well. Remember, please include a small piece of fabric on the note.

Please take a few minutes from your busy schedules to help us create this very special keepsake for our daughter. We have created a blog entitled, “Sophia’s Blessing Quilt” (http://www.blessingquilt.blogspot.com/) that will have photos of the fabric swatches as they arrive, as well as the notes. You will be able to keep tabs with us as our “blessings” pour in! There is a link to the quilt blog from both our family blog (http://www.merrilymusingmom.blogspot.com/)and our adoption blog (http://www.oursilkroad.blogspot.com/). Feel free to pass along this information to others whom you feel might want to participate with us!

Thank you for investing in our family, and especially in our new daughter’s soon arrival from Taiwan. May God bless you richly!

Sincerely,

Dave and Terri Fisher

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If you would like to participate in this project, please leave a comment on this post that includes your e-mail address, and we will send you an e-mail with our physical address. I moderate my comments, so I will not include your e-mail address when/if I publish your comment. We can't wait to see what fun fabrics arrive from our blogging friends!