Originally Posted by
Edie
I only wash pieces that are over two yards! Fat quarters and 1/2 yards and even one yard that I am going to cut into squares I do not wash until the quilt is put together, and quilted and bound. Then it gets washed. I feel that if you wash a small piece you are going to lose more than you have, so I don't - and I have not had one problem yet!
I learned this from my mother who has been quilting forever! And you know- Mothers are never wrong - especially when they are 96 years old. And, I am almost 74, so by now I should know! She doesn't chew her cabbage twice, so it is a case of learn now or never learn! I have learned to learn to learn!!!!!!! Edie
From my experience, (but I'm only 71, so you have three years on me), if a fabric is going to misbehave, it will do it no matter what size the piece is. The proportion/rate of shrinkage - if treated the same - would be the same if I had a fat eighth or a ten yard length. It just is more easily noticed on a small piece.