I'm sure by now you've gotten many different comments. However, I'll add mine too! I've been quilting for ~10 years. I used to sew vertical rows and then sew them together. I've learned a few things from this site.
1. Sew the quilt in 4 quadrants (sections) rather than strips
2. Sash each individual block rather than strips that are the length of the quilt.
If you sew in sections; upper left, upper right, lower right and lower left, then sew the top 1/2 together and the bottom 1/2 together...then the longest seam you have to sew together will be the width of the quilt when you sew the top 1/2 to the bottom 1/2!!!
If you sash each individual block, then it's just more chain sewing. And anyone can chain sew! It's very important to make sure your blocks are square though, before you start sewing the blocks to make a section!