Old 05-04-2014, 09:52 AM
  #5  
Prism99
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
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Whether the fabric is prewashed or not actually has very little effect on the finished quilt. What determines the "crinkled" look is the batting. If you do not want any crinkling, then use polyester batting which does not shrink. Once quilted, the batting will control how much the fabric can shrink. A moderately quilted quilt with poly batting will not allow the fabric to shrink more than the batting shrinks, so with poly batting you get virtually no fabric shrinkage.

Decades ago I used prewashed fabric and cotton batting for my first quilt. I was astonished at how much it crinkled! Took it to a quilt shop to ask if that was normal and found out it is. Over the years, I realized that almost all of the vintage quilts I looked at had that crinkling -- it just looked softer. This is because fabric colors fade, soften and blend over the years, and cotton batting gets softer with each washing. By the time you look at a vintage quilt, everything looks (and is!) very soft and inviting.

Quilts hung at quilt shows have often never been washed (especially the award winning quilts!). Beginning quilters don't realize that a quilt will look different before and after washing -- especially if cotton batting or other shrinkable batting (wool batting, for example, typically shrinks just like cotton) is used.

Also, many of us have become accustomed to the look of commercial comforters -- the smooth, highly puffy look.

In short, if you really do not want crinkling, then either (1) use polyester batting, or (2) use a wool or cotton batting that is capable of being pre-washed and pre-shrunk. You need to check the specifics of the batting to determine whether it is safe to preshrink it or not. Older style battings that were not needle punched typically fall apart in water. Needlepunched cotton battings and the good brands of wool batting (Hobbs and Quilter's Dream) can all be preshrunk as long as you are careful not to allow agitation during the wash cycle.

Edit: I want to caution that tied quilts will not respond the same way to fabric that is not prewashed. With moderate quilting, the three layers "become one" and the batting takes control of shrinkage. Tied quilts do not really make the three layers into one, so batting cannot control the shrinkage. In that case, the individual fabrics will all shrink at their own rates, just as if they were washed on their own.
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