Nice visual, I had no idea you found some of my stash. I'm trying to get better :-) hahaha

Makes me wonder if the seller didn't cut off the selvages before cutting the FQs to do those selvage projects.

I learned with my last FQ bundle that all FQs aren't the same. Now I get at least 1/2 yard of coordinating fabric. It helped make up for the smaller FQ's hidden by the folds of the bundle.

Sometimes a seller will cut around a flaw for a fat quarter and that is why the selvage es are mkssing.

I have found my blocks press out a lot better when the threads in all the pieeces are perpendicular to each other.

I feel that grain lines do matter.

It is really difficult to cut 18 x 22 inces of pieces out of a 17 x 21 inch area.

The only thing " wrong " you may have done was thinking that all fat quarters will have 18 x 22 inch usable fabric. A very few do. Most do not.

FQ cut wonky...go to a different quilt shop
I know there is a lot of recommendations for worrying about the bias....I don't. My theory is that my quilts don't hang..therefore no sagging like in a skirt you make. And somewhere on ANY quilt a cut will have to be made that is not straight of the grain (think circle). After all the stitching and quilting, I DARE you to figure out which block isn't on the straight of grain.

Start buying fabric by the 1/2 yard cut.

I think this will never be a problem for me. I only buy fat quarters for smaller projects and applique pieces or to add a touch of variety in a quilt (like 2 or 3 for different patterns or colors to mix in). No way would I buy only only fat quarters to make a whole quilt out of them. There's just too much wastage that way. I buy yardage off the bolt for most of my projects. Locally non-sale priced fat quarters run around $3 each or $12/yd. That's about the same as premium quilting cloth. To me premium starts at around $10/yd. You can probably spend more if you want. The difference is a yard off the bolt will give you more material you can use because it isn't already cut into pieces.
Rodney

I use fat quarters a lot and have bought many fat quarter bundles from Connecting Threads. The bundles are all coordinated and seem to be cut by machine. All the edges line up and are the same size, a real nice stack when they come in the mail. Very little ironing required, easy to use and I haven't noticed any missing selveges. I watch for their special sales and clearance, last Black Friday I made out like a bandit and bought 11 bundles, a Christmas present to me!