I sometimes buy fabric off the bolt that lines up nice and neat but when washed becomes kind of wonky.
I try to fold selvage to selvage first...sometimes my selvages don't match perfectly - but most importantly you just want to make sure that your grain is straight and neat so when you cut a strip it isn't at an angle giving you sort of, mixed bias strips!
**Edited to add - I politely disagree that grain doesn't matter in quilting - I think it matters quite a bit. If you're making a bang around quilt maybe not so much, but cotton fabric behaves differently when cut on the grain then on the bias. Definitely if you start entering your quilts in shows, some judges look at the grain to see that you cut correctly. Also you can get some distortion and warping by cutting pieces at an odd angle partially on the bias when they are meant to be cut on the straight or cross grain. I personally pay close attention to the grain. Don't be crazy about it, but I personally think it's a good idea to keep it neat!
