The worst problem I ever had with a rag quilt being linty was when I washed it in a machine that was too small. It was covered in lint, actually little threads, when it came out of the washer and even though the dryer was big, it still had tons of lint on it. It continued to shed lint every time I touched it and I couldn't wait to get it packaged up and put in the mail. I made it for my daughter to use at soccer games at her request and I called and told her about it. She said once she washed it in her home machine, a good sized front loader, it was ok. Because we were away from home in our motor home, I had to take it to a Laundromat and unfortunately used one of their small washers. As I put it in the washer I realized that I was kind of packing it in there, but didn't realize what would happen. My mistake! I have made other rag quilts that I washed at home in my front loader and have never had that problem. So long story, they need lots of room in a washer, how ever you need to accomplish this.