I made a Christmas redwork and block quilt. I did the redwork on bleached muslin, and I thought it was a little flimsy, so I fused each redwork piece to non-woven interfacing. I, too, did the "press into a towel" method so that the redwork stitches wouldn't get flattened. I have to confess that I didn't wash the redwork blocks. When the time comes, I plan to wash the whole quilt on gentle, with cold water and color catchers. You can see a picture of it here:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...94495901iAgJxJ