A Quilt For Frankie
Bai Jia Bei ~ Luck, Energy and 100 Good Wishes to Surround You
Many adoptive parents are aware of this tradition, but for those that are unfamiliar, there is a centuries old tradition in northern China, to create a "Bai-Jia-Bei", or a "100 Good Wishes Quilt" to welcome a new life into a family. Parents who adopt children from China often choose to honor this tradition.
One hundred family and friends are invited to donate a piece of fabric along with a
written wish for the baby-to-be, or in this case, the adorable five year old boy. A quilt for the child is then crafted from the pieces of material and the written wishes
are placed in a memory book for the child to cherish. The quilt is an heirloom which can be handed down from generation to generation.
I feel honored to have been able to make this quilt for Frankie.
A friend from work , and her husband started the international adoption process in 2006, and were placed "on the list" to adopt an infant girl from China. They started receiving good wishes and fabric, many of which were of feminine colors and patterns, since all of their family and friends were expecting a baby girl.
Prior to the adoption, however, a new list of children became available for adoption. One of the boys on the list captured their hearts, and they made inquiries to the agency. In 2008, they were blessed with the adoption of their son, Frankie. He was a beautiful, energetic, five year old boy. The rest is history. He is the sun and moon to his parents and brings countless moments of laughter and smiles to their lives.
Life is busy, and for sometime, the fabric was stored away. I was looking for a new project, and I offered to make this quilt for Frankie. ( Actually, I always wanted to make it for him.) Michele gave me the fabric, and my wheels started to turn.
Because of Frankie's current age (10) , I decided to make the quilt somewhat more of a modern quilt. I wanted him to think it was cool and fun. I had a few challenges, though, because many of the squares were very feminine. Like many boys his age, Frankie enjoys sports, cartoons, and video games. So I had to do a little planning. I chose to use the darker colored fabric, along with the neutral colors as the main larger squares of the quilt, and I cut up the more feminine pieces into smaller pieces to uses as accents and the binding. I then spaced the quilted blocks with black border strips to give it a more masculine appeal.
I chose an Asian -inspired print for the backing of the quilt. There were also three squares that were much larger than the others. One of them was a beautiful lady bug cross stitch that was made by one of his aunts. I decided to piece these three squares into the center of the backing of the quilt. These squares, which contained many pink tones were complimented by the Asian fabric, which was mostly masculine with some pink accents.
Frankie, I hope you enjoy this quilt for many, many years. You are a sweet, brave boy, who freely offers your beautiful smile to others. I did not have a square of fabric for you, but please know my heart was in each and every stitch. Oh, and I really hope you think it's cool.
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If anyone is interested in having a handmade quilt crafted for someone they love, please contact me through my blog for more information.
