Well, some fabrics I keep 9 yards long, some others just a fat quarter long. It depends on what I have planned for it.
Seriously, people go around looking for depression era feed sack material for their quilts. That is like 80 years old.
Myself, I don't see the attraction, but that's just me. If it ain't made by Robert Kaufman or Michael Miller, it usually doesn't interest me too much.
Take a piece of questioned material. Try ripping on the diagonal. If you can do that, don't use it for something you want to keep.
tim in san jose