How to cut fabric?
 

I have this panel that I want to make into a crib size quilt, which is what most of the panel is. I want to remove the dark blue border. I began to trim the fabric and found that the characters and the background in the block were printed on the fabric crooked. It is off by about 2 inches. Do I cut the piece so that the characters are straight or so that the fabric is on the straight of the grain? Here is a picture of the block.

I would stabilize with a straight stitch all the way around right inside where I wanted to cut it to stabilize the bias that is being created and then I would cut it crooked personally. Otherwise to square up the minions, you might have to lose a lot of the orange background.

I have found this to be the norm for panels. They are not printed evenly, I would not worry about it and just add your borders to the panel and chalk it up to imperfections when working with panels!

I would cut so the characters are straight. (After watching a video recently about fabric production, it seems like a miracle that any prints end up on grain.)

Have you washed and stretched it diagonally? Fabric is wrapped on the bolts while damp is often distorted that way. If that doesn't work, then forget the grain lines and cut so the little guys look straight. I've only had one truly straight panel. Timeless Treasures Fantasia.

I always start by pulling on opposite angles to straighten it a bit. good luck.

I would cut so that the blue borders were entirely removed & then make the orange part as close to squared up as possible (meaning characters may not be exactly straight, but I think that's part of the charm of cartoons).

If you aren't working on straight of grain, make sure to use LOTS of starch/sizing -- or as luvspaper suggested, add a stabilizer. Trying to add piecing onto a bias cut can bring even more problems. Tear away stabilizer would probably be best, but I rarely use it. Typically if I HAD to work on a bias edge, I would just completely saturate the fabric before cutting to ensure it's stiff as paper. You might also consider using a pinking blade on your rotary cutter to help reduce fraying on the bias.

I have worked with a number of panels. They are never straight.
On your panel it would be easy. I would cut off all the borders. You have enough orange all around to be able to add
any borders that you want.

Wanted to add one more thing:

I just saw a Ricky Tims video today where he put in a row of stay stitching 1/16" from his marked stitch line before cutting his 1/4" seam allowance.. That allowed him to piece on the bias without too much stretch. I'm going to try that the next time I'm piecing on the bias. Thought I'd share it with you in case you decide to cut on bias to put minions in upright position. Good luck! It's a cute panel!