When I first started quilting, an older friend was helping me. She always used a wooden hand rail that she had cut various lengths to use when pressing. It is very inexpensive, and the flat side does not roll on your ironing board. You lay the seam along the rounded portion of the handrail and press. It does absorb the steam and you have really flat seams. I had gotten out of the habit until this discussion. I will have to try it again because it really did work well.