Conniemaried, I love that block and your points are perfect. Do you mind telling what the name of your block is? I just made a 25-patch 12.5" block yesterday that has the same hst pieces on the outside. The name of mine is Bright Jewel. My pattern called for cutting 2-7/8" for the plain squares. I always cut the hst and qst bigger so I have plenty of room to square them up. I have learned that when I make a hst or qst block piece, no matter what the size, I square up each piece to what it needs to be before laying out the block and I sew the pieces in rows. I quit using steam for my pressing, and now use finger pressing as much as possible so that when I do press, I just set the iron down on top and don't move it around. I also use Best Press starch. I find it is worth the money. I also use a SCANT 1/4" seam on all my blocks. If it was my block, I would take it totally apart and remeasure, and square up each piece before sewing it in rows and then sewing the rows together.