Am I the only one who rips then irons to get the grain right? I am kin of surprised that so many people are using the described technique. Maybe I will give it a try. I am such a bugger about straight of grain! I think that a straight grain helps in reducing the ravel in the seam allowances.

Ripping damages fabric up to 2" from the rip. This damage may not be visible to the eye, but it is clear under a microscope. The damage is less when ripping on the lengthwise grain, more when ripping on the crosswise grain. This is one reason why I don't rip quilting fabric (except occasionally long border strips or backing fabric).

To be honest, I don't care that much about grain, except when I'm working with bias. As long as your ruler is exactly perpendicular to the fold, your fabric will not have a V cut, no matter which direction the grain is going.

I could never quite get the hang of it so I bought a ShapeCut ruler. Since you make the first cut on the 0" mark, all the strips are perfectly parallel.

Thanks so much for everyone's help -- a few new/different approaches to try! I've only tried the "hold fabric by selvages and slide/wiggle selvages until it hangs without twist or wrinkle" method, but that's how I get my "V" cuts despite my best efforts. It just seems so imprecise to me. I'll see if I can do better with your suggestions,

I try to be precise with grain as well. If I'm dealing with a large/long piece of fabric at times I'll rip but if I'm dealing with smaller subcuts typically I do not. I'm more likely to do that with home dec fabrics than quilting fabrics simply because I'm usually dealing with smaller pieces. But backings in particular that I have to manipulate in various ways, I'll definitely rip.

Grandmother taught me to do it the way you described. (Ripping) I find that many fabrics these days are not printed to match the grain and the cutting at the store is not always straight (not a criticism...just the way it is)...and I lose too much fabric by ripping.

I got tired of aligning up the ruler more precise then surgery required. I bought a Go die cut.

McG, you need to understand that "straight of grain" and cutting strips without the dreaded "V" are two completely different topics. The "hold selvages together and wiggle" method has to do with straight of grain only. It does *not* help eliminate "V" bends when cutting strips.

The *only* thing that matters when cutting strips is making sure that your ruler is positioned *exactly* 90 degrees from the fold. Your fabric can be folded on the straight of grain, off the straight of grain, even folded at true bias -- and you can still cut perfectly straight strips. Wiggling selvages together makes no difference.

Practice with pieces of typing paper. Fold the paper any way you like -- exactly in half, at weird angles, whatever. Then cut strips from the folded paper. Notice how, the more tilted the ruler is from the fold, the deeper the "V". The entire trick to getting straight cuts from folded fabric is the positioning of your ruler in relation to the fold. This applies even to the Accuquilt die cutter. In order to achieve strips without a "V", you must position the fold of the fabric accurately in relation to the cutting edges.

Actually, I think it's the opposite. Strips cut on the true bias ravel less than strips cut on the straight grain. I believe crossgrain ravels more than lengthwise grain, but they both ravel. In my experience, the extent of raveling in the seams depends a great deal on the specific fabrics (and on the amount of handling they get). I don't normally get a lot of raveling with my quilting fabrics, but I noticed that my Kaufman Kona black fabric ravels like crazy when I cut it into strips. Solid colors seem to all be made out of a different weave of fabric than regular quilting cottons, so I think that might be the reason.

If you have a scrap of fabric, you might want to try cutting strips on both the grain and the bias, then compare the amount of raveling you get. (I'd do this myself, but I'm too lazy! :p )