Prism99

Find out if they cut their quilting fabric or rip it. I placed an order with G Street Fabrics recently when they were having a sale, and just started cutting the fabric. That's when I realized they had ripped the fabric. Every piece. I didn't know anyone still did that. I have ordered from Hancock's of Paducah online, jellyrollfabrics.net, and perhaps half a dozen other suppliers of quilting fabrics and the fabrics have always been cut, not ripped.

liking quilting

I think the ripping technique is to get the true "straight of grain."

GingerK

Thanks for the head's up. I hope they gave you an few extra inches to make up for the amount you will have to remove because of the ripping.

zozee

I haven't had that happen online before, but a local shop here (now, sadly, out of business) would always rip the fabric. I know it's to find the straight of grain, but I don't prefer the method.

NZquilter

I don't think there is anything wrong with tearing instead of cutting the fabric. Personally I wish some places still ripped; I'm tired of needing to trim a good several inches off both ends of yardage in order to straighten it. I've seen Eleanor Burns rip her fabric into strips too.

SusieQOH

Prism, I order fabric online almost exclusively. Here are my favs: Missouri Star, Green Fairy, Jordan, Shabby Fabrics, a few others that aren't coming to mind. I've never received fabric that was ripped rather than cut from these vendors.

Jan in VA

Have heard that about G Street Fabrics. I guess it's because they are also an all fabrics store, not just quilting. It will take a lot of demonstration to make me believe/accept that tearing fabric keeps it on straight of grain. I just can't stand it and have walked out of stores empty-handed if they tear.

intoquilting

I like backing fabric to be ripped because it makes the back straight. When it is cut you end up with uneven edges.

peaceandjoy

I wish more stores did rip!

If I have a piece in my stash that is large enough, I will rip to get a true straight of grain. You might end up with 1/4" to trim. But I've cut well over 2" many a time to get it straight when it was cut rather than torn.

Ripping is more common when fabric is for clothing, when a straight of grain is more important for drape and fit.

Prism99

The problem I have with ripping cross-grain is that it damages the fabric up to 2" in from the rip. You can't see the damage with the naked eye, but it is obvious under a microscope. Even if I were to refold the fabric on-grain, I would have to trim 2" off each ripped edge to be sure not to have weakened fabric in some of my blocks, since I don't have a microscope handy to see if the fabric was damaged only 1" from the rip.

At least they were generous with the cuts to make up for the extra I had to cut off from each end.

I don't have a problem with ripping fabric along the lengthwise grain, especially when long borders are needed, because it is a cleaner rip with damage not extending as far into the fabric. Cross-grain ripping, on the other hand, is the pits.