I agree w/the above statement...but, if it is go forward and no return for a time issue or a BOM and you are desperate...I'd still want it cut. If one end of it was uneven...no one cares if it is allowed in the yard. If you really have to cut a good foot to even start an even beginning...then cut it and mark it at a special price due to the 'manufacturer's mistake'....I'd still buy the foot if it were me, even uneven...for I applique and paper piece many different smaller projects/even small samplers....would still find a good home!:)I'd still chew some back pockets on it....even take some pics for they prob won't believe you at the rep's visit! Fabric is never a loss....:)Skeat....who would flip out over any ripping of a fabric...I like neat and clean...:)Good question! Skeat

Are you able to return it?

If not, have you taken any of it home and washed it to see if it will "straighten out"?

If it does, you could advise your customers that it will "behave" if it's washed and dried.

If not, I would definitely be on the vendor's case for either a major price break or to be able to return it.

I HATE working with seriously crooked fabric.

At one time nearly all fabric was torn. The store would have a thing that was bolted to the edge of the counter and the fabric edge was pulled thru it and it measured and when the clerk got to the amount you wanted she pushed on it and it would cut a notch in the selvedge and then the clerk would tear it.

I even remember the sound that measuring thing made when my mom would buy fabric to make us dresses.

When did cotton become a delicate? Is it because most quilters didn't start out as clothing sewers?

I still want my large backing pieces cut. If you can send it back I would or I would get a new bolt at a discounted price if you can.

I'm thinking that the demands on the fabric are different.

Examination under a microscope shows damage to the fibers of a torn edge up to 2 or 3 inches from the edge. Quilters typically use only a quarter-inch seam so it is important that the fabric in that quarter-inch not be compromised, especially if they want their quilts to last for generations. No one wants to see a fraying piece in an old quilt coming apart at the seam.

When sewing garments, it's often important to position pattern pieces on the straight-of-grain so the clothing will drape properly and not stretch out of shape in the wash. Tearing ensures establishment of a straight-of-grain.

Exact grain is not as important in quilting. If fabrics are starched heavily, cutting and piecing can be done accurately even with off-grain and bias pieces and not affect the drape or finished quality of the quilt. With an entire large backing piece, however, an off-true grain is likely to be noticeable to the eye and might actually skew the quilt when the quilt is washed, there being no opposing forces to keep the fabric from shrinking more in one direction than the other. Grainline is most important in the larger border pieces, sashing pieces and backing fabrics; pattern is more important than grainline in the smaller pieces and appliques.

My thoughts on the subject, anyway......

I'm with you, esqmommy. I think I did just about faint the first time I saw my aunt do it. I know I was lightheaded!! I would walk out the door if I saw a LQS tearing. It stretches the edges of the fabric and damages the integrity of the pricey fabric.

If you are tearing apart 8 yards to share with someone it doesn't bother me terribly because I know I won't use the portion near the tears...but I also wouldn't pay for it. I have been terribly disappointed with online ebay stores since I purchase small pieces and many of them tear. It's a bummer.

I went to the famous Quilt in a Day shop in CA and they tear (though I ordered online, and it call came nicely cut :?: ). I <b>HATE</b> the sound of ripping fabric. It just sounds ... bad. And then there are strings everywhere.

it does sound horrible...worse than fingernails down the chalkboard.

I you don't like torn fabric, don't go to the tent sales at Paducah. Fabric is torn not cut. The vendor booths, and quilt shops cut and Hancocks of Paducah cut but not at the back room clearance fabric tables.
What makes me frustrated is the cutter using an old dull pair of scissors or dinged up rotary blade, takes forever to get a cut and then it's all ragged. I asked to speak to the owner at one QS and asked why the fabric cutting table was using lousy cutting tools. She came up close and whispered the employees have to buy their on cutting tools to cut the fabric so they won't steal them. I said oh, well keep your fabric then, if you can't trust the employees you hired to use new cutting tools then I don't need to be shopping here. She's now out of business because she didn't pay her taxes.

Wow! That is such an interesting story from so many angles!