I like to work with 1/4 yard pieces...I don't wash...I do starch & press..makes cutting and handling the "candy" easier and hardly any fraying of the edges... sometimes I will just rotary cut and other times I will use the Accuquilt Go cutter...I like to keep each color/pattern in little stacks on a tray...when I get all the sets needed I start picking them to get one of each and straighten them all out and then into the baggies I get from Dollar Tree....