I know it is important so you can avoid fabric stretch but I'm not always willing to pay that much attention to this. Shame on me.

Rosy, Thank you for the cutting a skirt sample. I can go for that and it will help me when I forget which is which. On scraps I have a real problem and some times when there is no salvage left, I pull one way on fabric and then the other to see which stretches and which does not.

Rosyhf makes a point about the cost of fabric- if you paid $12 or $13 a yard, maybe you should pay more attention to how you cut it. And if you are making a design that really matters to you or the person who will get it, then you will take the time to be precise on the details.

But, I also hear this other side- if this is a play quilt for our kids, a get to know a new technique quilt with cheap fabric that won't be seen by people outside our home, or a recycle leftovers, then does it really matter? To the picky who knows that it will be wrong in their mind, then by all means, appease your conscience. To those who can live with the quilt as it is, then do so without guilt.

Usually to do with stretching and how well your quilt hangs when you finish it.

I am in total agreement with Roshyf, in fact I am a bit confused by the subject as I have always thought, and read and been taught and told that you should always use the straight thread of the fabric.

One of my favourite suppliers, and early quilting teacher, used to have a saying, I live to rip and cut. She had an Internet business and she taught me that you rip a piece of fabric, to get the "grain" of the fabric straight, and then cut. I have never had problems with warped blocks or borders, which IMO must be cut from a straight thread fabric.

Oh, thank you all for this. I've held my breath, listening for the Quilt Police to come pounding on the door when i cut fabric off the grain so I can have an adequate piece that I need to finish something. It never seemed to matter one way or other, so I've kept on doing it when necessary.

I don't bother with cutting on the grain either - never really had any problems

OK a fairly newbie.I have made one memory throw quilt.
What is grain and bias?I know, Iknow,(silly question) but I really don't know.LOL

Fabric strips cut from selvage to selvage (S/S)have a small amount of elasticity (they stretch). Fabric strips cut "with the grain" don't stretch. Either way is okay - depending on your preference.

I prefer to cut "with the grain" for my sashing strips. The reason for this is that my block will be square and stay that way. They won't have that quarter-inch stretch going on. You don't get those "wavy" borders if you cut "with the grain" - a 27" strip stays a 27" strip, not a 27-1/2" strip like you sometimes get if you cut S/S.