Oh, i forgot the last one...
5. use a stilletto - or whatever object you have to keep your fabrics feeding through the machine right until the end of the patch you are sewing...
I like to use a bamboo skewer from the kitchen supply store or supermarket most of the time. This helps to keep your fabrics sewing on that 1/4" seam line right until the last stitch, rather than getting a "bowed" appearance to the seam line. If you always have quilt tops which are "hourglass shaped" (fatter on the outside edges than in the middle) this technique should solve that problem, or at least help to manage it.