Yes, cold water wash with Retayne, testing with color catcher. HOT dryer temp. Great tip on folding and pinning/basting before tossing in the dryer! I personally like the look of horizontal seams. They are typically sewn with 1/2" allowance and I always press them open. But as PaperPrincess mentioned, the directions of the backing seams really don't matter if you are quilting it yourself on your sewing machine or by hand.