its up to you-=some people do- some people dont'
no confusion required-
the reasons for pre-washing are-
1. to check for color-fastness (it sucks when you make a beautiful quilt all done-quilted and bound- wash it the first time and have one of the fabrics bleed- especially if there was alot of white in it and oops-now it's pink or blue-or whatever)
2. to pre-shrink the fabric - some people do not want their finished quilt to shrink at all-so they pre-wash to prevent this
3. to remove sizing/chemicals from the fabrics- when using fusable products you will have better luck if your fabric has been pre-washed- also if you plan to print anything on the fabrics- the sizing/chemicals effect outcome.
i'm sure there are more reasons- but those are the basic 3- now- you decide for yourself- do any of these reasons seem to be important to you?
are you useing reds- deep colors that may run?
are you using fusables that may not stick?
are you worried the quilt may shrink?
(btw--flannels shrink ALOT! and should always be pre-washed)