Great quilt, sorry you had such a big difference in the strips. However, I agree with jenOSU - I prefer to prewash my fabrics before using in a quilt, and I haven't been happy with the few precut strips and squares I have purchased in the past. I have so much fabric in my stash I can generally find what I want and cut it up - if I don't, oh well, a road trip to the fabric store is in order.