I pre-wash all my fabrics & pre-soak my batting and always get the crinkled look. Cotton batting and cotton fabrics will give you that look. I know I see some people who suggest pre-washing on hot & drying on high heat... maybe that would make a difference -- and if you barely put in any quilting that will also limit the crinkled look, but as long as you wash it after you finish the quilt (I wash mine in Cold water on the Delicate setting & dry with Low heat) it will get that look. The more it gets washed, the more crinkly it will get over time.
And I think the "rule" about pressing rather than ironing is mainly important when working with bias cuts. If your pieces are all squares or rectangles, I don't think it makes any difference. When you start working with triangles, hexies or circles, the fabric can become slightly stretched out of shape/off grain. If you're not planning to enter it into a competition, I wouldn't worry about it much. Your quilt should still be beautiful.
The craziest rule I learned in a Craftsy class was that when working with white fabrics, you need to mark either the vertical or horizontal grain line. Apparently, under certain lighting conditions the exact same fabric from the same bolt will appear a slightly different shade depending on whether it is laid out on the horizontal or vertical grain. That just seems like complete insanity to me. I suppose if I were going to put a quilt in a major show and thought I actually had a chance to win, maybe I would take the time to mark all those pieces (it was an Irish Chain), but mostly that just seems WAY too picky for my taste.
Last edited by Bree123; 07-10-2015 at 09:08 PM.