Do I use a dry iron or steam iron??
 

I have just finished piecing together my first quilt. (Of course I got carried away and it is a large queen size quilt!) I am thinking I need to iron the entire top before I put the 'sandwich' together. Do I use a dry iron or steam to do this?

My preference at that point is to use spray starch and a steam iron. It helps flatten all the seams.

As usual, the answer is YES. lol It depends. I just did a Lasagne top with a jelly roll so there weren't many crossing seams and I used a dry iron. When there are lots of seams or stubborn seam lumps, then I often use steam. Best Press has come in handy too to help handle these pesky seams.

I always use steam to press my seams and tops.

Steam and Best Press! Lots of Steam!!!

I press each block as it is sewn, and then press each seam when sewing the blocks together. Then I put it on the longarm right away. The result is that I usually don't need to do any more pressing to the whole top. I count this as a big plus, since it's hard to press a large top without introducing new wrinkles. If you do press, particularly with steam, be careful not to distort the top.

I press as much as possible with a dry iron and use a shot of starch if I need moisture. Water would work, but the starch is sitting there. My iron steams too well and I don't want to distort any blocks.

I only use a dry iron, if some needs water, I use a spray bottle and spritz it.

I use steam unless my blocks were made with bias edges. In that case I use a dry iron and lightly press. Steam seems to "stretch out" the middle of the bias blocks.