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Here we have the blankie top sewn together in one direction, but not the other. Time to fix that.

We're going to turn the blankie top the other way -- seams running right to left, open slots running up and down -- and sew across the seams that are already there.

Flip the rightmost row of blocks onto the adjacent row to its left. Since thread is now holding the rows together, you won't need pins.

Finger press all the top seam allowances the same way. It doesn't matter which way, just so they're all the same. In the photo they are all pressed "up," towards the top of the photo.

At the same time, finger press all the bottom seam allowances the opposite way. (Now instead of one huge seam bump, you'll get two smaller ones.)

Sew the seam. Check each seam allowance as it feeds into the machine; they may flip when you're not looking. When (not if) you do sew a flipped seam allowance, it's okay. Just pop it loose with a stitch ripper and resew it.

Ta-dah! The first seam is done!

The next seam should be done the same way, with one difference: flip the second seam's allowances in opposite directions from the first seam's.

In this case, that means "top" seam allowances are finger pressed "down" (towards the left side of the photo) and the "bottom" seam allowances are finger pressed "up" (towards the right side of the photo).

Sew the seam, and voila. The second seam is done!

Rinse, lather, repeat. Just keep flipping and sewing each seam's seam allowances in opposite directions, always alternating directions with each new seam. Hence, the third seam's seam allowances will be flipped in the same directions as the first seam's, and the fourth seam's seam allowances will be flipped in the same directions as the second seam's.

You can see what I mean on this photo of the backside. The rows of horizontal seam allowances (that is, the short seam allowances running from side to side) are flipped in alternating directions.
The new vertical seam allowances (that is, the long seam allowances running up and down) can be pressed to either the right or left. It doesn't matter which direction; just press them all the same way. They are pressed to the right in this photo.

All right! This scrap blocks quilt top is now ready for borders!

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