Wow! I never in a million years think I'd be advised to rip fabric from a quilter, but hey, I just tried it and low and behold it works. I agree this is but scary to do at first. I might need to clean the edge a couple of threads (then too, that should fit into the seam allowance), presto chango; I've got a border.

Notes: Give it an extra 1/8th inch to accommodate the fuzzy sides and as mentioned, good fabric (weft and weave) is a must. Also, an added length lets you trim the ends of stretched material so be sure to have a large enough piece to do this.


Heck, I thought I was going to spend the day doing this rather than the couple minutes it took (talk about your time saver!), now what do I do with the rest of my day? HA! Quilt of course!

Another trick in old bag, thank you all so much. :thumbup:

"...rip fabric from a quilter" (What, and loose an arm?) HA! I made a funny. :lol:

This worked so well that I’m going tear the backing fabric the same way. Yay!

You'd be lucky to only lose an arm. LOL

Glad the ripping worked out for you.

LOL...yeah, don't you dare try to rip any fabric from my hands!!! LOL

I do know what your are talking about Carla....I usually rip sparingly and give myself room to do any necessary trim work....but I usually have the "fuzzy" edges in all my work as I rip alot!

Ripping is what my aunt always did, but I was afraid I'd be banned from this site if I suggested that. Glad some 'old' techniques are just too good to abandon.

Steve, go ahead and have a rip, roaring good time :!: :lol:

I have ripped it before and that works fine, but usually I just fold it crosswise. Trim off the selvedge and measure from your new cut edge.

You would be coming out of it lucky Steve to only lose one arm :lol: :lol:
Glad that it worked out for you :D

What I did forget, after just reading about it, is to ease a long length of fabric every 12 inches or so. Consequently I have a slight ripple on one side (learned lesson), though I think quilting the border and then trimming should take care of it since it is only a slight wave. If I hadn't done any easing at all it would have been a big mess. Taking out a 70 inch seam doesn't sound very fun huh? The piece looks good though, so the next step is getting my batting and backing ready, and then tack it. After that, I've got about a couple-hundred prairie points to cut and fold. Oh joy! :wink:

Patsy, I thought you were describing my efforts, seam ripper well seasoned and traveled!!

Sharon