Fabric Grain

Let's talk about fabric grain. To make your quilt blocks fit together accurately, it's important to cut and sew on the correct grain. If you don't, your fabric stretches and becomes distorted.

Fabrics are woven in two directions. We call these the lengthwise and crosswise grains. Although there's only two directional weaves, we have three grain lines.

The crosswise grain runs at a right angle to the selvages. It has a bit more stretch than the lengthwise grain.

The bias grain runs on a 45-degree angle to the selvages. It has the most stretch, so it distorts easily. You must be careful when handling the bias.

Look at your fabric. See the tightly woven edges at the top and the bottom? These are selvages. Quilters don't use selvages. Trim them before you cut your fabric. You'll learn how to do this in the rotary cutting section.

The model quilt block has one or more sides that follow the lengthwise and crosswise grains. This gives your block more strength and stability.

Always be mindful of your fabric grain. This applies whether you're working on blocks, borders, sashing or binding.