1.  Please choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like.
2.  Pre-wash and cut an 8x8" square to be used for the quilt.
3. Include a smaller piece of this fabric to be placed in a memory book with a good wish.
4. Create your wish for our daughter on card stock.  Your wish can be anything - your hopes for her, thoughts on adoption, a poem, prayer, quote, verse, favorite saying, advice or anything meaningful to you.   And it can be decorated with scrapbook supplies, stamps, stickers, construction paper, or just simply typed or hand written.
5. Make sure you sign your name and the city and state where you live somewhere on your wish.
6.  Send us your wishes and fabric before April 30

As we receive our wishes over the next several months (we are expecting about 100+) we will post pictures of them here so you can see how creative people can be with them.

Thanks to the Janicki's (MA) for contributing material leftover from quilts that were made for their 3 children, but their grandmother.  It brings special meaning to know the fabric was also used as an heirloom piece for them as well.  We especially liked the extra wishes, and our favorite was "Daddy's Rules" :)  Mike, you and John will have to create a plan of attack for the boys one of these times we get together!

Donna is like a big sister to John.  Even though we don't see she and her husband very often, Donna and Chris are great role models for our Little One to look up to as they both can teach our daughter about perseverance and following her dreams.

Thank you to the Youngs (NH) for your wonderful wish and square.  I realize the two of you are busy, so thank you for taking a minute to welcome our daughter into our world.

I'm amazed at how many family members (more distant family members) that John and I have never met, have become part of this wonderful keepsake for our daughter.

Thank you to "Cousin" Elaine (OH) for your thoughtful wish for our daughter's quilt.

We spend most of our day at work (at least 8 hours), and it's those people that you are surrounded with during this time that you become close to, no matter how long you've been with a job :) 

I'd like to Thank both Jodi S. and Karen A. (and Abby) for not only being great co-workers but becoming friends and sharing our excitement with us as we continue on our adoption journey.

It really means a lot when people take the time to put together a wish for our Little One, especially when it's someone who has been a friend for 25+ years. 

Today we received a wish from somone who has been a friend of John's since he was 8 years old.  Michael, and John, although usually many miles apart, have maintained a great friendship over the years.  He was also a Groomsman in our wedding and John also was in his when he married Jenn.

Thank you to the Shands (AZ) for your thoughtful, and very appropriate, fabrics and wish.

I can't believe we've received 70 wishes already!  They are coming in by the envelope-full these days. 

Our Little One's soon-to-be Grammy and Grampa, and of course it wouldn't be complete without one from Abbey (their dog), sent some beautiful fabrics and wishes, and included in the envelope was a wish in Memory of Gram (my Great Grandmother).  All wishes have a special meaning behind them, but this one brought loving tears to my eyes.

Also in that envelope was a wish from a wonderful woman who has dedicated her life to helping others, specifically my grandmother who is in a nursing home.  Tata, from Africa, sent a wish telling our daughter to appreciate the language and culture of other countries.  Our Little one being from China herself...your wish holds a special place in our heart.

We received a wish from my "instant grandparents" (I was 13 when my mom remarried, so they instantly had a grand-daughter) and it brought tears to my eyes.  Beautiful seashell fabric (we all love the beach) along with a wish, but with this wish was a book "My Beautfiul Broken Shell", which they glued pieces of shell they had picked up while walking along the beach and glued them to the cover.

I look forward to being able to share that book of hope with our daughter as she grows older and begins to question and feel loss of her birthmother and homeland, hoping it shares words to comfort her.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful wish, Grammy Lammie and Beanie (FL & MA)

Since receiving the wishes today, I've started to put connections to some fabric that we have already received.  The grouping of fabric has begun to take place in my mind.  (Great, now my mind will be racing a mile a minute at night while I'm trying to sleep as I visualize putting the quilt together piece by piece) 

Thank you to:
The Weisberg Family (MA)
Janie Estey (IL)

This quilt is going to be absolutely beautiful!

We received some wishes today from John's neighborhood families from growing up.  We only hope that our daughter is able to experience the joy of playing creatively  outdoors (like we both did) and develop the relationships with friends in our neighborhood as we both did growing up...as well as keep in touch with old co-workers such as I did with Anne.

Thank you to the following people for their beautiful wishes.

The Crumps (MA)
Ms. Bond (NH)
The Grants (NH)

I was beginning to think that we were having a bit of a "wish drought", and along came some wonderful wishes from both our OctDTC group as well as a family friend.  Thank you to all for your wishes and fabric squares (if you look at the picture, they all coordinate together nicely).

The O'Neill Family (NH)
Eubank and Armstong Family (VA)
The Gallegos Family (CA)

We received another 2 wishes today, both from families within our Oct2006DTC group.  Thank you to the LeMasters and Gibbens families for their wonderful wishes to our Little One.