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I tear my borders first then cut the fabric into smaller pieces.

I recommend the same method as bunniequilter. Tear your fabric, and you'll always have a straight edge! This is also good to remember when making backs. My friend is a longarm quilter, and she doesn't appreciate getting backs that aren't "square up"!

I do as petthefabric and QuiltnNan do. It's not hard to manage at all. I also resquare the cut edge every so often as I'm cutting. I never cut fabric into smaller pieces than I need at that particular moment.

Thank you all for your advice. I have learned several things here.
1. Know what size quilt you intend to make before you cut.
2. Know the cutting instructions of the pattern you intend to use in order to make best usage of yardage. Some patterns call for cutting border strips "length-of-fabric" first, before cutting other strips the width of fabric.
3. It is "OK" to cut large lengths of yardage down to workable lengths. 3 yards is long enough for a king size quilt!
4. After getting the fabric on the straight of grain with salvege to salvage, I think I will pin every half yard through the salveges to keep it from shifting as I go to the next yard and the next. I might even pin at the fold line also.
Then I can fold the whole piece in half lengthwise bringing the fold line up to the salveges. From there, I can fold accordian style as Petthefabric suggested.
Again, thank you all for your suggestions. Very insightful for me.

I learned something new this morning. Thanks.

I buy fabric specifically for backing, so that yardage I never cut down. For other fabrics that are not intended to be backings, generally speaking I buy 3 metres of fabric at a time, and I find I can manage to fold it selvege-to-selvege and then fold it again for storage using the ruler folding method.

I also never cut mine. do not want to find out later that I need a longer piece and have to buy more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by corklass44 (Post 5904898)

I have washed, dried and ironed my 6 yards of fabric. I know that you are supposed to hold/fold the fabric salvege to salvege and slide the salveges until no wrinkles show on the fold. I can do this in 1 yard increments somewhat without getting "bendy" strips when I need to cut accross width of fabric. I do run into problems when yardage goes beyond my initial 1 yard (or less) cut plane. Should I just cut up my yardage into 1 yard increments, or struggle with the remainder in order to keep the yardage on the straight-of grain? This has bothered me for years! Looking forward to the talented and wise advice from this board.:o

I hold one hand on the lower left corner, put other a bit over a yard farther in on the top side, then swap, keep moving down the fabric that way. Gets fabric in a little better shape, although some will never get straight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EasyPeezy (Post 5904923)

I can usually manage 1 to 1.5 yds max. However, in order to maximize my fabric
usage, I plan how many squares and strips I will need. Make a little diagram and
see how many strips/squares fit in one yard. Then I can adjust a little more or a
little less. I always add one or two inches for safety. Does this makes sense?

I agree!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by petthefabric (Post 5905126)

I wouldn't want to have cut it into 1 yd pieces only to find that I need borders 1 1/2 yard long. And I like to cut binding the length of fabric with the fewest joins possible. Therefore, I leave it in 1 large piece. When folding, I put the selvages together every 1/2 - 3/4 yd & keep holding the previous segment in one hand, the fabric folds accordian style. When I'm all the way through the yardage, I hold it up and let it drop into a fold at the other side. Then I gently lay it down and pick it up again along the fold about every 1/2-3/4 yard. While holding the total yardage this way, I shake it so the grain will straighten out. Then lay it down again and either fold it accordian style or in half, then in half, again and again until its the size I want to store.

This is pretty much what I do too (unless I can get DH or another pair of hands to help me fold).

However ... If I have say 4 yards of fabric and I only need to cut 1 yard or less ... I'll only worry about folding 1.5 yards properly to make my cutting for the project then refold the remaining fabric to be wrapped onto a core and stored.