The Quiltmaker's Gift
I had heard of the 100 Wishes Quilt thanks to my handy dandy Red Envelope catalog. But it wasn't until I was pregnant that I went on the hunt for one. Of course by this time, it was no longer in the catalog and I realized I could make my own and it would have more meaning.
What is it?
The making of the 100 Good Wishes Quilt is a tradition in the northern part of China as a celebration of new life. It is customary to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of fabric with a wish for the baby. Part of the patch goes towards the quilt and the other part goes into a notebook where the wish is written out for the child. The quilt is said to contain luck, energy and good wishes from all of the people that contributed to it. This quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. Pretty cool, eh?
I never got my wishes quilt. But when the time came for me to shower another mami, I tried my best to put my plan in place. Everything about this baby is outstanding and special. I have known that since before he was born. And so, began the journey of 100 wishes for Malachi.
I don't know how I came to hear of or follow Heather but, as with everything in life, the connection happened at the right time. When I read her Facebook Page, I knew she'd be the right person for the job.
I found these awesome wish cards on Etsy from Felecia over at Free Spirit Crafting. She was so cool and courteous making sure I had the right cards and the right colors. And she's got all sorts of fun stuff in her store.
At the shower, every guest was asked to fill one out. These cards will make great leaves for the tree stencil in his room.
I then had his Godmami cut up the fabric in squares. I know everyone thought I was nuts and for some reason I couldn't find the right words to explain this process.
When it was all said and done, I took the scraps and stapled them to the back of each card. Off  went the squares to Heather.
I then found this awesome Etsy store while researching quilts. Jennifer created a personalized label to add to the right message.
The job that Heather did was...outstanding! I did not expect this. Not sure what I expected but the love I felt from this quilt was amazing. Sounds crazy, right? Love from a quilt. But it's true. Here are some pics to prove my point.
Not only does Malachi get a wishes quilt filled with all of the love and hope his family and friends poured out, but Heather donates one quilt to the NICU for each quilt purchased. There's another reason she does this but, I'll let her tell you. Here's my mini interview with her.
Tell us a little about yourself...
My name is Heather and my husband is Adam. We have been married for almost 5 years and have been trying for a baby since we got married. Although we have been pregnant in the past and had miscarriages, we have since been told that our only chance of having a full term pregnancy with biological children is to go through IVF. We were foster parents for a while and were told that we were going to be able to adopt through foster care, but the adoptions fell through (after we had already fallen in love with the children) and we decided that we couldn't put ourselves through that again.
Tell us a little about how Infertili-Quilts came about?
Infertili-Quilts started as an idea to both earn money for our IVF treatments and help premature babies. I am going to be making and selling quilts. For every quilt purchased, a second quilt will be made and donated to a NICU.
What do you love about quilting?Â
I like the puzzle aspect of quilting, a quilt starts out as a bunch of random pieces and then ends as a piece of art. They can be as simple or as complex as you want.
What do you not love?
How much time it can take up. I tend to get impatient about how much time it can take to hand quilt after the material has already been pieced together.
Can you tell the readers how you decided on donating quilts to the NICU?
I decided to donate quilts to the NICU because I know that, with IVF procedures, multiples are common and that multiples usually end up in the NICU for a while. It is kind of a way to pay it forward and honor the babies that are in the NICU, every baby deserves a baby quilt.
What's the one thing you'd like everyone reading this post to know.
The child created with the funds from Infertili-Quilts will be loved SO much and raised with the knowledge that s/he was wanted and loved by people that s/he has never even met. The baby's quilt will include fabric from each quilt made by Infertili-Quilts as a reminder of just how much s/he is loved by so many people.