i cut my borders and sashing on the lengthwise grain only so they don't have to be pieced. i don't hang my large quilts, so stretching is not an issue. however, once the lenghtwise backing is on the quilt and the quilt is quilted, the quilt, IMHO, is pretty stable anyway. as for smaller pieces, i work slowly for accuracy, so don't feel any need to change my widthwise stripping/cutting.