to rip or not to rip

i was having a terrible time getting a 1/4 yard of this fabric to line up for squaring. you're supposed to line up the selvages, pin them together, then smooth out the fabric to the center fold. the selvages for this piece were particularly wonky and no matter what i did, i couldn't get the piece straightened out. time to consult a book.

 i remembered seeing instructions for resquaring a distorted piece. the first thing the ladies recommended was tearing a 2.5" strip off your fabric to find the grain. it's the only place in all the dozens of books i've read where i've seen this recommended, but they're experts so i gave it a go. and was instantly sorry. i really don't think it worked for me. maybe they were using thinner, less-premium, non-designer fabrics that are easy to rip. i don't know. all i do know is it made a mess out of my material, distorting it all along each side of the rip.

then again, now that i think about it, i was able to make a more accurate guess at where the grain lay and i did get the fabric to straighten out decently with that guess in mind. so maybe, in desperate situations like this, ripping isn't a total loss after all.

but who am i to judge? i have major problems with recognizing the grain lines and making straight cuts, two essential skills to sewing in general and quilting in particular. quilting is all about accuracy. extreme accuracy. well, it's supposed to be. not for me. my motto is "it's okay! wonky is nice." or something like that.