illinois

It depends. How off is this? How wide is the border to be? It would be nice if this was printed on the straight of grain but the good thing about quilting is that we can utilize a lot that might not be perfection, especially if the quilt is to be our own and used, not shown in competition. If you can pull this into submission, I'd use it and then quilt it in place. If it's more determined than you, maybe need to make another choice.

romanojg

Make sure you square the quilt first. If you do that and it hangs funny then its the fabric but if you haven't squared it then it could be that instead of the fabric.

tessagin

this is what I would do. Or maybe heavily starch it before cutting.

carolynjo

Fabric today may be printed on the straight of grain, but the rest of the process (running it through the presses, applying heat to dry the fabric, and they wrapping it on the bolt all conspire to give us a warped, out-of-straight of grain fabric. I always buy extra and wet the fabric and align the selvedges and press well using starch. I takes awhile, but the grain is straight. Or, take the easy way and let the weight of the fabric sag and tell you when you have it aligned. You may have to lose several inches, but it is straight.

romanojg

Leah Day has a video on doing it this way on her web site.

klswift

If you are already having problems with the stripe - do not try to use it as a stripe. Even very experienced quilters can have a problem fabric. For a novice, it will simply frustrate you. Why not look at it differently? Cut it crosswise and piece it or cut it on a diagonal for a completely different look. You could even piece diagonal cuts opposite and give it the appearance of a zig zag. Or, save it for another quilt and try something completely different. We often change courses several times when creating a quilt!

novicequiltergrandma

Thanks for all the suggestions. Still not sure what I'll try, but you've at least given me some ideas. Love this board!