bkay

I'm a newbie to quilting. I've been doing a lot of cutting the last few days for multiple projects. I'm having a really hard time squaring fabrics. I've been ripping to get the straight of the grain. If I square to that, then the selvage is off. I think know that the selvage has to be on the straight of the grain. I've pulled some of the lighter weight cottons into square by pulling on the bias. It helps sometimes.

I have a Robert Kaufman print that I washed last week. I ripped off 1/3 yard for some 5" squares for a swap. I got it fairly straight with pulling on the bias. I decided to use the rest of it for another swap. After pressing it with a vodka/water spritz, the ripped edge is an inch off square from the fold to the selvage without pulling on the bias.

All of the swaps say to cut on the grain. Sometimes it's hard to figure out exactly what the straight is. Do people just ignore it and cut anyway? Is there some trick or method I need to know about? Is it the way I'm pressing?

bkay