Why this fear of bias edges?
 

I'm not understanding the fear or caution expressed when bias edges are mentioned in anything. My first quilt was Ocean Waves and I used the disappearing pinwheel blocks with my 4-Hers. My view is that the stretch of the edges allows fitting opportunities.
If pressing is done carefully - pressing not ironing - and pinning is done, then the blocks can be completed satisfactorily. I'm currently working with blocks that my members have done for a group quilt. So far I've only had to reconstruct one block and I'm still not sure what the member did that was wrong. And I have had to add extra strips to the block edges because the some of the blocks vary in size - but I think that the quilt itself will be lovely. (I'll post when it's complete!)
But then I am not a traditional quilter. The idea of cutting small pieces and then sewing them together gives me hives....

Long may she wave. I have had many quilts go wrong with bias edges. Of course, it's due to me stretching the fabric by either sewing wrong or pressing wrong. The only time I really worry about it is in a show quilt. Usually, I do like you said, just quilt it out. Since I make throws, I figure no one is going to notice because they are rarely folded and placed where it would be noticable.

In some ways, bias edges can be your friend because you can manipulate them a bit if you have a lot of seams to join. You have to do it carefully, of course.

Watson

I think the fear or caution is noted for inexperienced quilters, of which every single one of us has been at one time. I know that I struggled and was frustrated with bias edges at one point, and I did not know why I couldn't get my seams and points to match. If someone had pointed out that I was dealing with bias edges and the possible consequences of not managing them properly, I would have been a lot less frustrated!

Now that I'm more experienced and knowledgeable, I agree with Watson - bias can be your friend. ;)

after I figured out that starching the yardage before I cut solved any problems I've had not had problems.

I was trained as a seamstress and bias edges can be an asset or a disaster depending on when and how they're used. Curved patterns are going to have some biased edges, so they require more basting and trimming. Not cutting basic squares and triangles on grain can cause a lot of problems in finished quilts as when the fabric is manipulated in any way they can stretch and sag. This makes them difficult to square.

When I was in college I worked in the theater costume shop. One of the designers insisted on cutting her medieval gowns out of stretch velour on the bias. I was appalled and told her that the gowns would be unwearable after one performance. I was right. Before every performance, (including the first one because she told the costumers to hang the gowns), myself and another seamstress had to sew the actresses into their costumes because they had grown in all directions. It was a disaster!

when I was a newer quilter, I would press so aggressively that my pieces would get distorted. I don’t have too many problems now with them as I’m more careful.

Bias can really mess a block up. I cut out a lot of big hexagons then decided to cut them in half. Big mistake. BIG. I had no idea which ones had the bias in the middle. Nothing fit back together.

I'm another that got most of my sewing experience with garment construction before moving on to quilting, so bias does not give me any fits. I do have to pay attention if I'd dealing with bias, but I don't worry about having a bias edge if I cut a square in half or something like that.

I've got a lot of sewing machines, and some really do not deal with bias very well. I often wonder how much of the difficulty some people have is because of the machine they are trying to do it on.

I agree, some machines stretch things on the bias when they stitch....so test sew on the biases before starting a project with a lot of bias edges....I think sometimes adjusting the foot presser, the thread tension or stitch length can help with it. If you have a serger that has a differential feed adjustment knob, you can see that in action...you can just turn that knob to get gather or to get ruffled edges ...amazing...but alas...not so good on a sewing machine. I love my Viking D1 as it usually gives me great seams on biased edges and I think it has something to do with that "hover" function where my presser foot raises just a bit between stiches...allowing the fabric to relax a bit between stiches

I think that there are some definite things that quilters need to understand about handling fabric with bias edges before making blocks that will have bias edges. 1) know that the stretch can be an advantage or disadvantage and handle very carefully;2) starching before cutting makes a huge difference, because it stabilizes the fabric; 3) aggressive ironing will distort your blocks. Press carefully; to get nice, flat blocks, press on a terrycloth towel. You can GENTLY manipulate the fabric (lightly mist with water if needed) to get the blocks square when pressing. 4) well-pressed blocks will assemble into a nice, square quilt and make the job easier in the long run. I would not recommend making any projects with bias edges to new quilters because I think it’s better to learn the bascs before adding the extra challenge of something that is tricky.

Oops! I had my 4-H quilt club members make disappearing pinwheel blocks for a group quilt as an achievement exercise. Interestingly enough, most the the blocks they have turned in are quite acceptable. When I join the quilted blocks I'll post a picture. So far I've had to "fix" only two of the blocks. I think the quilt will be quite acceptable.

I don't want to have to be that careful. Takes the fun out of it for me.

I'm also from the clothes sewing world. One real help, at least for me, was/is the Curvemaster foot. It does 1/4 curved seams and it doesn't matter which way they curve or if they even do. The first I used it was on two bias edges that I'd tried and ripped three or four times and no matter how I pinned, clipped, taped or pasted it still didn't come out evenly, they were part of a larger assembly and beginning to lose the ends. I was on the verge of basting it by hand (run shrieking!)

The curvemaster arrived in the mail, I put it on, dared it to be right about not needing to pin or clip the fabric, and less than 15 minutes later, presto! I immediately went to the computer and ordered the 5/8" one. They take a bit to get the hang of (too easy?) but you can move the fabric from the right side to the left side as you sew.

This was my problem, too, Doggramma. I thought I was being careful, but it doesn't take much to pull edges out of alignment.

Leslie

This reminds me from years ago, I tried to cut some corduroy out of a piece of clothing and make something else and it was a mess.