I am obsessive/compulsive about wanting my fabric to be straight on the grain so I tear it. If I tear it and the crossgrain lines up, but the selvedges don't line up, it's still off-grain. I don't do tear small pieces or fat quarters, but I tear pretty much whatever will tear. I don't mind the loose threads or the lost little bit of fabric when I cut the edge. I'm tired of paying for a couple extra inches to waste on getting it straight, so I'm delighted when they tear fabric at the store. I rarely have problems with off-grain when buying quilt shop fabric, but I can rarely afford to do so. I try to find the middle ground between the horribly off-grain cheap fabric and the high-end never off-grain fabric. Yesterday, in Hancocks, I saw this adorable frog fabric that was printed in squares and I asked the clerk to tear it for me to check the grain. Sure enough, it was almost a whole square off grain. I didn't buy it.