I think "accurate (or rather careful) pressing" is a must as well for good quilt prep. The more you do accurately in the preparation stage, the easier your blocks will go together and the better the quilt will look.

Very good reminders :D:D:D Thank You!

After my experience this week with not prewashing fabric, I'll never forget again. I bought a good LQS piece of fabric fussy cut a piece and realized that I'd forgotten to prewash (as were the rules for a swap). So I decided to handwash the piece, block it, and go on. NOT. The darn thing shrank a little more than 1/8 inch on all sides. Prewashing does make a difference. Back to the cutting board after I washed all the fabrics I just bought.

I think I'm going to take a page from a couple ladies on the board. I'm going go start pinking the edges before washing. That way, I'll KNOW what has been prewashed and hasn't.

Measure thrice, cut once.

Keep a sharp blade in your rotary cutter to accurate cutting.

There is no unwashed fabric in my quilting studio with the exception of one little stack and that is put away separately in a bag and labelled. That being said, I like my fabric to have "body" so I use Mary Ellen's best press liberally. Using this or starch helps keep bias edges from stretching out of shape.

All of this is my personal preferences. I'm a little bit anal (well, OK, a lot anal) and I like things to be precise. I have a friend who rarely has a perfectly matched seam or a perky point and she's happy as a lark with it. I'd be a lot less stressed if I were more like her - LOL.

Good guidelines/rules, don't always go by all of them, but still good.

Don't forget to square your blocks correctly!

You said it all in a nutshell!!! :P

I am beginning to think that I am accurately handicapped!! :|