I have made several McKenna Ryan tops. If you are using Steam-A-Seam Lite II (or similar) then you should be able to hand press the pieces on and they should stay until ready to iron. If something is in the wrong place, you can lift it off (assuming you have ironed the pattern to the fabric for that piece and not to the main background yet) and move it where it needs to be. I have found also that walking away from the quilt top and coming back to look at it later before the final fusing helps to pick up any mistakes you may have made in placement. As previously mentioned, you should be pressing not ironing. Press down for 15 or so seconds then lift the iron, move it to the next area, and press down again with the iron. So, which Ryan design are you working on? I seem to love most of what she designs.