Whenever possible I nest my seams and sew with the one I have to fight on the top. That plus a stiletto works most of the time for me.

Also, like Mad, I "twirl" my centers like Eleanor Burns. Here Quilt in a Day website has many free videos that shows the process if you are unfamiliar with it.

In my last secret pal box I had a pack of clover fork pins and they are brilliant. I sew very slowly at the intersection and once the seam has just got under the presser foot I withdraw the pin so that the needle won't touch it - the pin is still holding the seam edges - finish the intersection then speed up til the next one. My intersecting seams have improved greatly and I think the time saved in ripping is well worth being patient over these seams.

try using spray starch when you iron the seams, it works

I was guilty of using pins, now I use use a chopstick, one of those nice pointy ones. from a nice take out restaurant, and it didn't cost me a thing.

Don't you just love freebies, I do they are my favourite things :mrgreen:

Sometimes I sew over my pins, my 401A is capable of letting me sew through the pins.

I have never heard of clover fork pins, they look great so I must keep an eye out for them. :thumbup:

I purchased the clover fork pins two days ago and tried to use them on my batik project. They were too difficult to get through the fabric, so didn't bother. Maybe they will work better on regular cotton.

Thanks for that input as I looked at them at my suppliers and was horrified by the price and as I am quite happy with my pins and Purple Thang I will save my pennies :-)

I always stop and make sure the seams are inthe right position and direction and try to NEVER sew over a pin but I have occasionally...send the quilt police over, I wanna know exactly who they are...I have a few things I wanna say to them...lol