As I am in the midst of making baby quilts for several friends (it seems I am at the age where all my girlfriends are having little ones) I started reminiscing about the first baby quilt I made which was for my friend, Susan, and I thought I would share it. 
I was living in Japan at the time and was heart broken that I wouldn't be able to go to Susan's baby shower. Missing things like that was one of the toughest parts about living in Japan.
Even though I couldn't be there she was in my thoughts and I wanted to make something special for her so I decided to try to make a quilt. I had made baby blankets before but piecing a quilt top was something new for me.
In the craft area of Jusco (Japanese store sort of like K-mart in the US) there wasn't the huge selection of fabrics like Jo-Ann's back at home but I did find a bundle of pre-cut 4" squares in pastel yellow, blue, pink, and green. Susan's daughter's room was going to be lavender so I hunted around to find a few other lavender fabrics that I could cut into additional squares to throw in the mix.
To make the top I simple joined the 4" squares into strips and then joined the strips together. I used some of my lavender for the back, quilted it with a straight, diagonal pattern and finally bound the edges with cream fabric.
Susan's daughter is now three years old and I love that she still has the quilt in her room. Since they live in Washington DC I only get to see them about once a year or so, but it means a lot to me that she has this gift from me with her still.
