Treasureit

I made a quilt top with UNwashed regular cotton fabric. Now I want to back the quilt with a batik fabric.

My question is....what will happen to the quilt if the top is NOT prewashed and the back is?
I always wash my batiks before I use them so I don't get excessive bleeding.

Anyone do this without a lot of odd skinkage later when you wash the quilt after it's done?
(Using cotton batting)

I just noticed I put "Batik as batting" in my title ...Duh...I meant batik as backing

tessagin

I prewash all my fabric prior to use, some like flannel and batiks 2-4times mainly because of bleeding but also shrinkage.

dunster

Honestly I don't think you will have any problems. Batiks don't shrink much because of the tighter weave. I would definitely wash the batik, even if the top fabrics weren't washed. (Like tessagin, I do prewash everything.)

DogHouseMom

Agree with Dunster. I had the identical situation recently and all was well in the end. Wash the batik until the bleeding has stopped and use it as your backing.

I am also a dedicated pre-washer but the quilt I had was made from pre-cuts.

Treasureit

Thanks for the info...soaking in Retayne now...then washing

RosaSharon

Some cotton fabric shrink more than other cotton fabric, this is why I pre-wash everything! This way the entire quilt has been pre-shrunk. I know it isn't popular to wash the fabric first, but this is what the old timers did, and how I learned to do it. A lot of shrinkage comes from the dryer, so I don't even use detergent, and only run the new fabric through the rinse cycle before I put it into the dryer. The heat from dryer, and the POUNDING in the dryer is what shrinks the cloth, especially wool!! (I used to live in sheep country, and was taught that it is the pounding in dryers that shrink wool.) It works on cotton too. I like to know my quilts are made for use, 'cause they sure aren't good enough to use as artwork on a wall hanging.