I was at a neighboors house the other day. We got talking about quilts. Just so happens she is making one. I noticed she had some blocks sewn together, but they seem to have some fraying, as there appears to be threads. She claims it will be all right once she trims the threads. How does everyone feel about this. The threads are not in the seam.

Since I can't see how and where the fraying is it's hard to tell what her outcome will be. From my experience, all fabric frays to some extent. The more you have to work with a piece stacking, placing it with another piece, sewing and unfortunately, sometimes ripping and resewing you are going to get some fraying. I leave all the frays in place as much as possible to hopefully get a more accurate quarter inch seam. I clip all of them when I do the final pressing of the quilt top. Some fabrics fray more than others and that maybe because although they are all cotton they may not have the same thread count. Looser weaves will have more fraying most generally.

I was wondering if spray starching before cutting helps to stop the fraying?

yes it does..to an extent..the quality of the fabric also plays a part and some fabrics are just not going to stop fraying..even if you use pinking shears/pinking blade to cut them...

Some fabrics fray more than others and sometimes you just can't stop it. Just trim and keep going...

I find starching fabrics really does cut down on the fraying. But I also believe starch cures alot of issues.

Cutting on the grain line also results in less fraying...both in the washer and as you build the quilt.

pretty much every quilt top that is pieced is going to have some fray threads on the back- until you trim them clean it up- it 's just the way it is. you clean it up- clip threads and make it as neat as you can- then you put together your sandwich- once it is quilted you will not know that some of the seam allowances are frayed- unless you leave them long- and they show through light places on the top

I think many quilters would not be happy with this suggestion, but it works for me. Fray Check works only temporarily (until the item is washed), so I bought a permanent white glue (won't wash out). I am very, very careful, put a little glue on a toothpick and touch the frayed areas at their base. I can relax because I am sure it will not continue to fray.