Originally Posted by
Rose Marie
Does thread shrink?
I wash all fabric before I use it but all my quilts pucker.
I use 80/20 batting.
I don't mind the puckering but would like to know what is shrinking.
The batting is 80% cotton and that is what is shrinking to make the puckers. If you don't want puckers, you need to either use a polyester batting or use a natural batting that can be pre-shrunk (such as Warm and Natural). Check online and on the batting package to make sure that a batting can be pre-shrunk without falling apart; some cannot.
Most vintage quilts shrank because cotton batting was used in almost all of them. Vintage cotton batting could not be pre-shrunk because there was nothing to hold the cotton together when wet; that was what the quilting lines were for. Current manufacturing processes allow certain types of cotton (and wool) batting to be pre-shrunk. Needlepunching through scrim, for example, holds the batting together while you wash and dry to pre-shrink. Some bonding processes (heat or chemical bonding) may allow it also, but not necessarily. If you try to pre-shrink a batting that cannot withstand water on its own, you will end up with a sodden mess.
