I am working on a christmas quilt for my Daughter. It's all snomen and snoflakes. All the little snomen are cross stitched. I backed them with muslin (the real fine kind). I did wash them first (didnt want them to bleed when she washed the quilt). I wash them in dish soap, rinse well, towel dry... then lay them out on the kitchen counter to dry. I give them a little tugg and pat as I go by. Once they were dry, I turned them over and pressed them into a thick towel with a warm iron. It makes the stitches stand out a little. I havent finished sewing the quilt together yet, but will post pics when it's done.