i have bought warm and natural from the warm company, from local quiltshops, from on line shops and yes recently from Joannes...i have to say...the (stuff) i got from Joannes is NOTHING like what i get from the quiltshops or the company. it is 1/2 the thickness of what i usually get...and it has some weird smell to it...i hated working with it. so, although i will continue to purchase warm and natural i will not buy what joannes offers ... it seems horribly sub-standard to me.
start with a small quilt (a baby quilt) make it, sandwich it, quilt it and bind it...throw it into the washer, -warm, normal cycle; toss it into the dryer...normal setting, take it out, hug it and see what you think...if you dont' like the soft-fluffiness of it and would prefer a -flatter' look you can pre-wash in the future or buy a batting with less shrinkage. the shrinkage is not actually (set in stone either) it depends on the amount of quilting how much shrinkage you will actually have