Recently, we read about 百家被 Bǎi Jiā Bèi which translates as “100 Families Quilt.” In the west, they are often called “100 Blessings Quilt” which is a good translation of the full meaning.
Legend has it that in the north of China, to welcome and celebrate new life, 100 people contribute a patch of cloth and a wish. The patches are then sewn together forming a quilt.
I couldn’t move forward with this project until I discovered if this was real or not.
Are Chinese people eating fortune cookies? No.
Are they wrapping their babies in 百家被? Yes - some still are.
In a loosely gathered survey of various friends, everyone knew about the quilts. Most people said, “It’s still done in the countryside, but in the city we just go to the store and buy a blanket.”
One friend did make her son a 百家被. She said, “The fabric was given to us by family. It can be used for a quilt or clothing. The purpose is to ‘wrap the baby in blessings’.”
As for the handwritten wishes, this seems to be a modern addition by the adoption community - but we like it!
__________________________
We would like to make 2 quilts by collecting separate quilt pieces for Schäfer and Little Sister - who we are in the process of adopting. (It doesn’t seem fair to make just one.)
1. Choose any 100% cotton fabric. You may select different fabrics or the same. You can choose something which represents you or your family.
2. Cut each fabric into a 10×10 square and a small swatch - like a 1×1 or 2×2.
3. On a 5×7 or smaller note card attach the small piece of fabric and include your blessing. Please use individual cards for Schäfer and Little Sister as their memory albums will be separate. Please put your name, address, and a little explanation about why you choose that piece of fabric. A photo would be fun too.
The fabrics will be used to create 2 quilts and the notes will be put into separate scrapbooks for Schäfer and Little Sister so they can identify who sent which squares when they get older.
Our goal is to collect 100 squares. For our address, please click on the “contact” tab.
For fabric square examples check out:
You can see some beautiful finished quilts here.
