If I need a long strip I tear it then press the edges.

If your cutting mat is less than 24 inches high, I would invest in a bigger mat just for cutting those larger pieces. For me, it was a great investment.

Cutting by the lenght of the fabric is good for small sashing and round robins and borders because it has no stretch when cut that way and helps keep your quilt from getting out of shape. When you cut from the selvege to the fold there is more stretch to the fabric so it works best for making blocks as you need the stretch to fit each piece togather.
I hope that makes sense, hard to explain.

Usually woven fabric has more stretch from selvage to selvage (crosswise)
than lengthwise.

It has the most stretch on the bias -

If you have a spare piece of fabric - cut out a 10 inch square - get a ruler out - now pull this piece of fabric as hard as you can in different directions and measure it at the stretched length - of course, it distorts the rest of the fabric while it's being stretched, but this is kind of an interesting exercise

If I"m cutting borders for a quilt, which I do frequently I use the length of the fabric so I don't have to piece them.. also if there's a directional pattern I do that. I always mark with my pencil (or whatever) and cut with scissors..that way I don't have to worry about slippage or whatever. It may take a wee bit longer, but I've never had a problem with my strips.

Years ago I read an article about tearing fabric along the grain line. An heirloom quilter got out a microscope to look at torn edges and compared them to cut edges. She was horrified to find that the torn edges had damage to the fibers up to 2 inches in from the tear. That's why I never tear fabric anymore.

some fabrics have a LOT more damage than others when torn - but there always seems to be some -

I just about have a fit if the clerk wants to tear the fabric when I'm buying it - she can - but ONLY if it's a good inch or so over the amount I actually want

Years ago that is all they ever did when you bought fabric- tear it to keep it straight.

thanks, everyone. I chickened out, went to Wally-World and bought the bigger cutting mat. This is only my second quilt attempt, but I can see how it will become quite addicting, so I figure it can't hurt to have the bigger mat. However, I do like the idea of marking and cutting with scissors. So I might be doing that, not sure yet. The cuts I am making are on 1 3/4 yards of fabric the entire length, so I REALLY don't want to mess up. :shock: (For border) Going to iron fabric today with the Sta-Flo in it and try to cut tonight! Wish me luck; this quilt will be a gift for my 6 or 9 yr. old niece. Haven't decided which yet...

remember to cut the selvages off

did you wash your fabric first?

you can mark on the back of the fabric with ordinary pencil if you mark lightly on the cutting lines - the chalk pencils brush off better, though

marking heavily with a lead pencil on the quilting lines was not one of my better ideas - the marks didn't come out very easily

also, if you are cutting borders - a lot of "overall" prints have a very subtle stripe in the design - hold the fabric away from you and stare at it for a while - you might see it (or not)

sometimes it matters on how it frames the finished piece