Let's Quickly Join.......Let's NOT.

Your blocks are made and quilted....all ready to join. The temptation to "quickly" join the blocks, in order to  finish is high....don't give in. The are many parts of QAYG that are quick and fairly forgiving, joining the blocks is not one of them. I really don't mean to scare you off, it's just that you've worked so hard, to make these beautiful blocks, you want them beautifully joined as well. Take your time. Here are some tips that really help me.

 Pin and pin some more. I'm really not a quilter, that pins very much, but when joining the long strips I find it's a must. I pin at every intersecting block, so that everything meets where it should, and then some pins in between.

 Put your ironing board beside you, in order to support your quilt...as you add the rows the quilt gets heavier and starts to pull, resulting in crooked seams.

 

Press and press some more. I place an ironing pad on my cutting board so that I can lay the quilt flat.

 I press the join at the back, first.

Just look at the fancy new iron, I bought a few weeks ago....it's fabulous.
 You can leave it sit, just like that, it has an automatic lift so it doesn't burn anything, when it rests.

I turn the quilt over and press the join from the front. 

 

Then I press the joining strip to one side and pin some more.

 All ready to stitch down...I prefer to stitch this down with my machine, rather than by hand....this is where I like to save time.

Here is half the quilt, on the banister.......the rest is  in the  sewing room waiting to be joined, carefully.