I agree with Maria

what's a steady betty?

I have found that setting the seams does work better, but what is a steady Betty?

Thanks for the replies. Sinking the stitches into the fabric by pressing makes sense. Now I just have to get into the habit.

Steady betty is not in my budget, but I find if I put a terry towel on the ironing board before I press the seams, that it grabs the fabric a tiny bit and the pressing is more efficient.

I'm sure the steady betty would be better, but this is working for me. My accuracy is greatly improved.

I bought the Steady Betty at JoAnn's with a 50% off coupon. I never pay full price for quilting items.

There 40% off online coupon code good until Oct 30 is HPE303
Steady Betty sizes:

http://www.joann.com/joann/search/se...questid=214462

I just recently started setting my seams too. Maybe they didn't do it years and years ago. But it does help and makes the seams lay flatter.

i use steam a lot.

I do it because the gal that taught our class said to do it. It just makes a much neater seam when you press then to the right or left to nestle into the next row at the seam.

I have pressed my seams first as well, and I found that it indeed, did make a difference.