Quilting and Scrapbooking for Bai Jia Bei (100 Good Wishes Quilt)

As many of you may know, I am making a quilt for our little girl.  The quilt is called a "Bai Jia Bei" or "100 Good Wishes Quilt."  In China it is customary and tradition to welcome and celebrate a new life by inviting 100 family members and friends to contribute a square patch of cloth to make a "Bai Jia Bei."  The cloth is then sewn together to make a quilt.  The quilt contains all of the good wishes, blessings, luck and energy from the people who contributed fabric.  All of the good wishes surround the child when she is wrapped in the quilt.  The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.  Along with the quilt, I am creating a memory book with all the good wishes people have sent her along with a sample cutting of the fabric from each person and their photo.  This way she will be able to look at her memory book, read a particular wish, see what fabric this particular person chose for her and see their picture... 

So today, I went to the craft store and bought a memory book, the card stock for the pages as well as the plastic cover pages and all the special tapes and dots.  I've never been a scrapbookerer so this is all new to me...  You can see everything I bought in the second picture.

In the first picture are the first 3 quilting squares I have received.  They are from my dear "Rumor Queen" friends.  Rumor Queen is an online community made up of people who have adopted or are planning to adopt from China.  Since the beginning of this journey, half of my life has been spent on Rumor Queen.  The friends I have made there have such a special place in my heart.  These friends have seen me through thick and thin.  We have encouraged one another and supported one another during this unbearable wait for our children.  Congratulations Kathy and Kim you are the first contributors.