Hi dunster,
I have one living family member who still quilts (she lives on the other side of Canada) and one person I know who is just an acquaintance I could ask questions, but no one I could just pick up a phone and get answers from asap. Everyone is so busy or working, etc. I have seen, from going into a couple of the (smaller) local quilt/fabric stores in my area of Niagara region, Ontario, that the women who run the stores are so pleased to see new blood taking up this art form. It's like being welcomed into someone's family with no questions asked, no judgements. (one woman gave me a hug!) I've also had some kind of negative experiences in bigger stores where they just don't seem to care for my questions or are not happy I had to bring my young boys shopping with me. I know the 'stink-eye' when I see it.
That's why, for me, a forum like this in invaluable.... some of those 21 million quilters are on here! :thumbup:

And I have to add - you quilters in the States are so lucky to have access to such amazing fabric selections. I have to order most of what I love thru Etsy. Even with major Canadian cities fairly close to me, I still can't find Tula Pink or Kate Spain, Sandi Hendersen (Secret Garden I'm using in this rag quilt), etc. Maybe one or two pieces in a collection, but not the whole thing. And fabric is so much more expensive up here. Very frustrating.

Great idea, suern3... have to try that tomorrow as I finish the sandwiches!

When I made my rag quilt, I also used a layer of cotton for the front, flannel for the batting, and flannel for the backing. I didn't sew the "X" on the individual blocks. The "X" is used when you use batting because the batting is cut smaller than the other fabrics and needs to be held into place. Without the "X" the batting would get all wadded up inside the pocket made by the front and back fabrics. Because the batting layer is flannel and cut the same as the top and bottom, it will be secured in the seams. My rag quilt is washed at least every 2 weeks during the cooler months and it has held up beautifully!

Read up on Bonnie Hunter's Leaders and Enders to help with the issue of starting and stopping. Her website is www.quiltville.com and is a great site for info and free patterns.

A smart seamstress told me the beginning of a denim or thick fabric sandwich is uphill for the pressure foot and needs the same thickness to begin easily. So, a small scrap near the same thickness as you wish to sew as a starter would eliminate that struggle at the beginning of a block. I learn this 60 years after I learn to sew...It just goes to show how a quilting board like this can be so useful.

Maybe this is a dumb question but did you pin your layers together and are your feed dogs up?

As already stated you do not need to sew an X is you are not using batting.

Also if you want to sew an X on the rest of your sandwiches, you do not need to start in the corners. You will be having a big seam allowance (up to an inch/2cm) and you do not need to stitch into the seam allowance.

Your flannel layer will show when you do the snips, (unless you cut it smaller than the outer layers (then you would need an X). The flannel will add to the ragged edges and it will look good.

When you get to the snipping stage your snips do not all have to be the same distance apart. The closer the more ragged the result.

Don't stress and don't bother trimming your squares. I would suggest you might want to lengthen your stitch length a tick. That might help with the shifting.

Are you sewing the squares without basting, might be why there is some shifting i would try a little basting spray

Oh, well, you didn't say you were in Canada. We are indeed lucky in the US that we have so many fabric stores, and our fabric is not as expensive as elsewhere. I lived for 4 years in northern BC, and during that time was not a quilter, but I did have one occasion when I needed to buy fabric to make curtains. After trying to shop locally (closest big down, Prince George - only 2.5 hours away) I wound up buying it online and having it shipped to my son's home in the US. A few of my neighbors made a quilt for a raffle every year to benefit the community center (small community named - you'll never guess - Dunster!) Those quilts were genuine folk art. I always bought tickets, but never won. I wish I had asked them to teach me to quilt, because they were true artists.