Dear Wanna, My mom was a French seamstress and always tore her fabrics. Then fabric stores started cutting the fabric with sissors, many with out cutting guides, and the cuts were crooked, some used cutting grooves fixed to their table and the ends of the fabric still came out crooked. Tearing fabric may cause a small amount of loss but not as much as crooked cutting lines do...The choice is yours and enjoy your quilting which ever way is most comfortable for you. There are no fabric police either! :-D