I'd bet our great grandmothers never squared an entire quilt either. Just be precise in your work, and there's no real need.

I square the corners, but that's all. I figure it's square enough (I'm pretty careful with my piecing), and if it's a bit out nobody will notice. If I was entering a show I might be a bit more particular, but it will work as a quilt even if the sides aren't perfectly parallel and equal.

Squaring assures crisp corners and non-wavy sides. It is worth the extra effort.

My DH taught me how to square up a quilt as you sandwich it. Just because the sides are of equal length does not mean that the top is laid out 'square on the batting and backing. Once you have the top laid out and smoothed to your satisfaction, take a tape measure and measure DIAGONALLY. If those two measurements are the same or at least VERY close, your quilt top is square.

DH uses this method in woodworking. I am constantly surprised at the similarities of techniques in working with wood and fabric.

I square up each block before sewing them together. I used to try to square up the whole thing but, like you, found it hard to do, and I decided it wasn't worth it. I trim off the extra backing and batting as straight as I can, and then sew on the binding.

I've also noticed on smaller things, like on some cat pads I've made that get washed often, that they shrink unevenly. I prewash the fabric, but still after many washings they'll frequently end up looking uneven. I'll walk by them and think to myself, "Good thing I spent all that time getting the edges straight and the corners square!" I don't wash my quilts very often and haven't seen them get off, but seeing the pads warp has made me worry about it less, because I figure over time they're going to become off a bit anyway.

I square everything. In my mind, the journey from start to finish of making a quilt is a long one. Why would I settle for imperfection at the end? Of course, here's a helpful tip: Square each block as you're making them. When you've sewn them all together, there's a pretty good chance your quilt will reflect all that painstaking care you've given it in the process. Time, money, effort? Try to finish strong!

No, I don't. I've learned that when I square a quilt, it is smaller when I'm done and still not square. However, i do check to make sure I don't have a lot of fluting in a large quilt, because that is Heck to quilt.

This is exactly what I saw happened many time: a perfectly squared quilt ending up not that square after a few washing. So I'm less motivated to spend hours to have a queen size quilt perfectly square... For now, I align it on a wall of the kids playroom, square the corners and just eyeball the rest. Of course, there is no quilt police, but I was wondering if I was the only one to work like this ;)

I 'sorta' do as Stichnripper.... I quilt for fun, friends, and Quilt for Kids, and not show quilts. Always square up corners and then connect the squared corners. Works for me.

I've learned the hard way that I really have to square up the units and then blocks as I go along, which really helps once the whole quilt is together. then I measure and if within 1/4" i'm good to go--once I quilt it and trim I will check to make sure not weird, but usually it's in almost perfect square. I will block wallhangings and any quilt for shows, otherwise if it's a bed quilt it won't matter!