leaha

quilt as you go= qayg

QuiltE

First of all, Welcome JETRoss!! from Southern Ontario
1) Save your $ for fabric!

2) As you noted, seams make bumps, so yes, just lay side-by-side and zigzag. Matching edges are important. Laying one on top of the other and then trim a wee bit off works. No, it does not have to be straight. Theoretically, they could be curved. Go with as broad of zigzag as you can and a longish stitch. This will help keep the flexibility of the seam similar to the flexibility in the rest of the batt. I don't worry about my "joins" being vertical/horizontal, rather I go for diagonal, slight or a lot. Reason .... more of our quilt seamlines are vertical/horizontal. Thus, are quilting often follows with that. An angle batting seam makes it so that all your seam does not land under a quilting line or in an area where there is very little quilting. Clear as Mud?

3) Some use the trimmings or unwanted pieces to fill a pillow case (or similar) to make a dog/cat bed!

Karamarie

I join them with a large zig zag stitch, don't overlay the pieces simply butt the pieces together- then you won't get any lumpy batting in our quilt