Before I joined this board, I almost never washed my fabric before I made a project. But now that I do lots of swaps and things here (and it's required that fabric be washed before you send something to someone), I do wash everything when it comes into the house so when I want to make something I am ready to go and don't have to mess around washing just a couple pieces of fabric for a project. It's nice to have it washed, starched and pressed when I'm ready to start something.