If they are cotton they will shrink after you wash them. Some people wash all their fabric and some don't, both groups have quilts that look beautiful when done.
I wash most of my fabrics because I don't like suprises in shrinking and I prefer not to handle the chemicals in fabrics for long periods of time. If you put them in a mesh bag it will help but I find you don't really loose much, it just looks worse then it is.
One of the downfalls to washing pre-cuts and fat quarters is that they will often not fit into patterns(since they are writen pre wash) after and you need to adjust the patterns to be smaller.
Last edited by mgmsrk; 01-12-2014 at 05:11 PM.
Reason: wonky spelling