Thanks for the info all. I thought the prewashing may have to do more with shrinkage concerns than personal preference. I was just curious as to what most quilters prefer: prewashing or unwashed.
As a life long clothing sewer (over 40 yrs) and formally educated design student (had designed a line of kids clothing), I would never have accepted fabrics that were prewashed by someone else to use in my garments because I was particular about what type solutions were used on those fabrics.
As a new quilter (about 2 yrs now) I am observing that this process is different with quilters here and as well may apply to quilters overall. Participating in these quilting board swaps is my first forays into exchanging fabrics with others that I do not know personally. This is all a learning process for me and I often want to understand the logic behind certain actions so that I can thoroughly get the process. That's the trained technical side of my left brained life. My right brained functions allow me to be creative which a quilting outlet has allowed me since I no longer sew or desgin clothing.
As I participate in swaps on this board, I will have to retrain myself to think prewash, prewash. New learning curve for me but I will get it. Allergies to chemicals I understand well, I have plenty of them. Again thanks everyone for your comments. It helps. Sorry for being so wordy but think of it as an eye excercise for today (the silver lining).