Nita, if your fabric shrinks that much when you wash it, don't you worry about how much it will shrink and pull at the seams once it is in a complete quilt and being washed for the first time? I know I have some friends who do this, but they are purposely trying to get that "antique" look. I always prewash so I was wondering how much trouble you had with this.
I'm mainly a scrap quilter so if the fabric isn't big enough, it usually isn't too much of a problem, except for shorting me on money. I simply add in several other fabrics of the same value and hue. Either that or it forces me to change what I'm doing, which is sometimes a happy surprise. This usually works, though not always.
Here is a trick I learned AFTER I had ripped out yards and yards of sewing. I made this gorgeous delectable mountains boarder around a double sized quilt. I ran out of fabric with only 4 inches to spare. Let me tell you, I searched for that fabric everywhere! It was about 15 years old at the time and there was no chance of my finding a little extra. What did I do? I ripped out the entire border, bought all new fabric and remade the entire border from scratch. Now that I am older and wiser I could just kick myself. What a waste of time, money, and effort!!!! :cry: If any of you ever find yourself in this situation, please don't do what I did. Here's a tip that will save you a ton of effort. Take the fabric you are short on, scan it into the computer, and print it out on a fabric sheet. There are some great fabric sheets that are being sold for printers now and this is a handy tool when you run out of fabric and only need a little bit more. I wouldn't do this if I needed substantial yardage, but it certainly would have worked well for the 4-inch strip I needed. :roll: Hopefully this tip will help someone else.