It has been a year since I have made a quilt.
Last year, I  made a total of 13 quilts, all before Christmas.

I spent yesterday afternoon and part of this day, cleaning the sewing machine and organizing the room.
The sewing machine was way over due for a thorough cleaning.
I purchased Aurifil thread, as recommended by my friend, Joy, who works at Mesquite Bean.
She said it does not produce as much lint as many of the other threads do.
I love it already.
  

Then I made a more precise plan in my design book.

This morning, I upgraded my iron and purchased new rotary blades.
What a difference this new Black and Decker Iron makes in forming perfect seams.

All the large fabric pieces are cut.
I also cut all of the pieces for the stars.
  

I laid out the center panel and the first frame of strips.
I need to complete the star blocks before I measure and cut the large strips and fit the blocks into the frame strips.

Vicky, at Las Colchas, taught me how to make two 2.5″squares by placing two 3″squares, right sides together.

Draw a diagonal line.

Sew a quarter inch seam on each side of the diagonal line.
Cut the diagonal line.

Use a 2.5 inch ruler to cut down to size.

My plan was to sew all of the squares for the stars, but I just had to see how a completed star would look.
One down…17 more to go.

I was a bit nervous about starting this quilt, since it has been awhile since I made one.
This is the first time I made a star, and I was quite excited about the results.

This is my stopping point for Day 1.