Cutting Strips Lengthwise
#1
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Join Date: Aug 2009
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Cutting Strips Lengthwise
I just watched a Judy Martin video on YouTube where she says she cuts all of her strips on the lengthwise grain. According to her, it makes everything more stable and your blocks will come out better. I have never heard of doing it this way. Do any of you do it that way? Do you see a difference if you do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULIM...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ULIM...eature=related
#3
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,548
I sometimes cut my borders from the legthwise grain before starting on a quilt pattern. For the interior of the quilt I do try to cut my sashing on the legthwise grain of the fabric if possible. If it is a directional print that sometimes doesn't work. So I guess my answer is sometimes yes, sometimes no.
#4
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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I think that's a good idea for borders and sashing strips, as already mentioned, especially if the quilt will be hanging, because there is less stretch in the fabric in that direction. But within the body of the quilt, as I see it, it makes no difference, since any blocks you cut will have 2 sides which are on each grain, lengthwise and crosswise, no matter which way the original strip was cut.
#5
I cut across the crosswise grain for sashing because it is simpler for me to figure out how long binding/sashing pieces that i can get out of a certain length of fabric. Everything in my stash would be consistent.
#6
i cut my borders and sashing on the lengthwise grain only so they don't have to be pieced. i don't hang my large quilts, so stretching is not an issue. however, once the lenghtwise backing is on the quilt and the quilt is quilted, the quilt, IMHO, is pretty stable anyway. as for smaller pieces, i work slowly for accuracy, so don't feel any need to change my widthwise stripping/cutting.
#8
I usually plan for lengthwise cuts for strip piecing, sashings and borders, figuring anything I can do to reduce the possibility of any distortion is helpful. Only exception would be when the fabric design would look better with a cross grain cut.
#10
Marti Michell does it that way too and she is one of the pioneers of quilting. I have done it and I see no difference when I piece my blocks. However I do cut lengthwise if I want long strips of fabric or if I want my borders to be just one piece.
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