Originally Posted by orangeroom
I never knew shrinkage could happen with material. I only purchase 100% cotton. However, there's been a few occasions when after pressing, some pieces 'looked' smaller when I knew I cut them correctly. Now I know why.
I've also never washed and dried fabric before cutting and piecing. Maybe I'll give it a go with the next quilt. Thanks for the advice fellow quilters!
A long time ago when fabrics were either cotton or rayon with no polyester, mfgrs PRESHRUNK their fabrics and it was on the label so that yhou knew that there would be less than 2 or 3 percent shrinkage. Now its not so important to mfgrs and because of that it is always advisable to pre wash your fabrics because they will (and I guarantee this) shrink at different rates. WASH ON!!