Cutting Vs Tearing-- How do you make sure your backing is cut straight?
 

I was always told that if I wanted my fabric to be cut straight then I should clip and tear. Is this the way you make your edges straight so that they will just pin right in the frame for quilting? I ran into this problem when I cut my backing and was going to load it on the long arm frame. It sagged on the sides. I soon discovered it was because my sides weren't all cut straight. How do you make sure you backing is straight to load properly?

I only quilt on my DSM and straight cut as accurately as possiblr. I make sure I have a margin all around the top and batting and trim after I quilt and sew on the binding by machine. I mark the center of the backing, batting and top and line them up.

I do tear a lot for my backings - I think it is really hard to get a straight edge on a large piece. I had a friend of mine tell me that a longarmer that spoke at their guild said not to tear but didn't give a reason. I will be watching this thread to see if someone gives a reason not to tear, but unless I hear a good one that is what I will keep doing as I get good results.

For backings, if I have 'enough' fabric, I will tear the selvages off. I try to use at least a 1/2 seam allowance on backings.

Tearing is stressful on the fabric, though.

For backs and long borders I almost always tear. My LAQ hasn't objected.

I tear most of the time. I quilt on quilts on an HQ and it works great

I tear most of my backs and they do fine (quilt on an HQ), also tear my outside borders on the lengthwise grain and never have problems with them being wavy. When I teach a class and show them how to rip, I say rip fast and you have less chance of pulled threads (cannot explain why it just works).

I'm a longarmer. I always tear my backs.

I too tear my backs to have them straight. I also tear my long border pieces. I like the borders on straight of grain.
I do tear fast -- never have much distortion.