Coming off the rush of completing my first quilt top, I thought I would share with you some of the things I have learned so far. And while I am at it, I will also share with you why they are so important!

• If possible, cut with a rotary cutter with one of those nice rulers with all the marks on it, like a Olfa ruler This makes the edges of the blocks nice and straight. It also allows you to cut several layers of fabric at one time ensuring your blocks are all identical.
• Use a 1/4" foot if you have one. It makes it much easier to make nice uniform seams. This really helps when you start putting your blocks together and assembling the quilt top. And, you won't have as much trimming to do to square your blocks.
• Press as you go! But don't use steam...it stretches and distorts your fabric and will cause headaches down the road when you start to assemble your quilt. Press your seams nice a flat on each block. When you start to assemble your quilt having seams pressed to alternate sides helps in lining up the center meeting points of the blocks.

Well, that's it for now. I will be creating the quilt sandwich next and working on the actual quilting. I'll be sharing more soon!