I'm a fan of Mary Ellen's Best Press for starching. I'm not making this quilt, but a scrappy one made up of 2 1/2" four patches, half square triangles and squares along with 4" squares, so I'm dealing with a lot of small pieces too. The Best Press really does help. I also use a Steady Betty for pressing and the pieces stick to the pressing surface because of the material Steady Betty is made from. This means that when I'm pressing there is very little movement of the patches if I happen to iron rather than press. Hope this helps!