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I know that the prewash issue has been discussed to death. However, I wanted to share my recent experience. I'd purchased two bolts of fabric - red and muslin. Since I'm starting my Dear Jane journey, I don't want any shrinkage issues at the end. I washed both the red and the muslin in the hottest water that I could. The muslin shrank 8% in width and 11% in length. The red shrank 11% in width. I didn't measure the length - it's on the bolt and I don't want to unwind again :) These numbers are why I always prewash. Different fabrics shrink different amounts in width and length. If I'm doing applique, for example, I don't want that applique to go wonky... if I want a circle, I want it to remain a circle. This is just my view. Each to her/his own.

I can see why you would pre-wash in your Dear Jane. 1. To avoid bleeding of the red into the muslin. 2. To avoid the wrinkles in the washed finished quilt. If I was going to labour over the applique in the Dear Jane, I would want it to look the same after washing. With the red shrinking 11% it would draw up the background fabric a lot, yuck! Wise move!:thumbup:

Wow - thanks for the reminder....FYI - For the fabric that's wrapped back on the bolt..Every 2 folds is equivalent to about a yard. If you're curious, that'll give you a pretty good estimate....

That is why I prewash everything! If it shrinks or the color runs, it does it before I use it in a quilt. Good call!