omacookie

Welcome. We have gone thru this also. Be patient. Trust. Measure twice and cut once.

mpspeedy2

I totally agree with your instructions. I find that ripping is the only way to get straight of grain. That makes a big difference in the final product. I learned long ago to purchase a little extra fabric. It saves a lot of problems down the line.

Skratchie

I learned to quilt from books during a time when I couldn't get to classes either. I still don't have time for classes, primarily because the shops in my area seem to think that only women who don't work have time to quilt (all the classes are during week days). I think the main thing is to be patient with yourself.

I STILL have problems cutting straight on some days, so you are in good company! It does sound like your fabric isn't square, so try all the solutions presented here and see which one works best for you. :-)

Misty's Mom

Welcome from Texas

Onebyone

The June Taylor Shape Cut is a ruler. I wouldn't want you to go looking for a cutter.

Dispatchgirl

I found the ruler! I've seen that before in Joann's fabrics and my sewing machine dealer. I wasn't sure if it would be a good buy. But I watched some YouTube videos on it and it looks amazing!!!

Maureen NJ

The Leah Day video says it perfectly. Maybe your ruler is moving. Try using blue painters tape rolled into a small circle (6 on a 24" ruler) to prevent it from slipping. I like this better than the sandpaper dots and plastic dots. Maybe this will help. Craftsy has great classes and you can ask the teacher questions. Maybe that would be an option for you with your schedule. You can view them at you convenience.

richardswife

There are some good video's that will help you on cutting straight strips and squaring up your fabric. Just google cutting streight strips of fabric video. These are very good and are very informative about cutting.
Good luck.

Onetomatoplant

Hello, and welcome! I'm relatively new to quilting myself, and I'm here to tell you, cutting long strips TERRIFIES me! I haven't yet figured out how to get the fabric to straighten itself out. The LQS where I used to live had a GO cutter that people could use for a nominal fee and I used it to cut strips the last time I needed them. Good luck to you!

NJ Quilter

Welcome from NJ.

I check my fabric folds as Sewnoma mentioned. I also prewash so I MUST refold my fabric. But yes, fold in half - selvage to selvage and check to see how flat the fold is. Wiggle the selvage edges left/right to get the fold flat. If you have a large enough cutting area, you can do this flat on the table as well but you would then start at the folded edge and let the selvage edges fall where they may.

What I do when I am making that first cut to straighten my edge is to cut from the opposite side (selvage edge) for that first cut so I don't have to flip the fabric - especially when I'm dealing with yardage. I have a couple of spring clamps that I can use to hold my ruler in place after lining up on the folded edge. Then I can go back to the 'normal' folded edge side of the table and continue cutting my strips.

Good luck - you'll get there.