Originally Posted by dotcomdtcm
My first quilt instruction, made from Bali Pops, said to cut off the selvage first. And I did not prewash them. So I've just been cutting them off and tossing them out.
Well if they were from Bali Pops then your selvedge pieces were only 2 1/2" long. When I cut off my selvedge I rarely take more than 1/2". Usually less. I consider a piece 2 1/2" x 1/2" fodder for the circular file (trash can). I have seen beautiful quilts made with very long selvedges cut wider but I want every last inch of my usable fabric so I guess that is why I do it the way I do it.