百家被 (100 good wishes quilt)

我们生长在红色年代，中国古老的传统都被文化大革命过滤掉了。倒是在决定领养之后，从美国各领养网站学到了不少中国古老的传统。其中之一就是“百家被”。 据说是中国北方的习俗，在孩子到来时，收集100块布头，代表100个美好的祝愿，再将这100块布头做成被子。意为"被百家所养， 健康平安"。 我以前没做过被子，这个被子算是我最复杂的针线活儿了。被子很漂亮，看上去简单，但做工相当繁琐。 这个被子是我和Leah一起做的。Leah夏令营时上了缝纫课， 我很吃惊她还真的学了不少东西，好多方块都是她自己缝在一起的。中间的4个方块是我们全家每个人精心挑选的最喜欢的花色。 经过几个星期的努力，今天大功告成。希望“百家被”真地会给安娜带来幸福。
I was born during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and grew up in a simple way without knowing many ancient Chinese traditions. Since we decided to adopt little Anna, I have learned a lot from the American adoption community including some Chinese customs that I was not familiar with. I learned that in Northern China it is traditional to make new babies a special quilt-the 100 good wishes quilt-to welcome the new child. The custom is to collect 100 pieces of cloth. Each piece carries a good wish or blessing for the child. A quilt with the blessing of 100 good wishes is then made by sewing all the pieces together. I had never made a quilt before, and this was the most complicated item that I have sewn. This beautiful quilt was a joined effort between me and our 10 year-old daughter Leah. She took a sewing class in the summer, and I was very impressed by how much she learned. She sewed many of the squares together. After several weeks of hard work, we finally finished the quilt today! We hope this 100 good wishes quilt will bring a lot of happiness to Anna.