Great advice from all! One thing I would say is that when you are ready to put it all together with the background triangle (squares cut in half diagonally), deliberately cut them an inch or two bigger than you think you need them and then trim them after you sew them. This will take care of any "personal variations" with your sewing. And please note, I am not assuming that you have personal variations since you are a newbie.....I have them too, and I've been quiltmaking for about 30 years now! You just learn tricks to handle the minor oopsies.....
