Hi gmabrown First of all the only dumb question is the one not asked, so I have been told. I agree with someof the others start at one end to cut your 6 inch by what ever. ABout the rag quilt the patterns I have used say "do not wash fabric first" part of the process of a rag quilt is the shringage of the fabric and the clipping for the frindge. I do wash my fabric for other projects but not for RAG quilts etc Happy quilting yippie