We have lots of threads talking about washing and drying.
It's mostly a personal preference. However, if you're using light fabrics with colors such as red and green which have a tendency to run, you may want to pre-wash so the dark fabrics will run in the prewash rather than in the quilt.
I always prewash, myself. I worry that the smelly dyes aren't nice to breathe in as you're cutting and sewing, so I wash twice to try and get them out. Also, fabric is inherently dusty and linty and a prewash will take some of that out. I also like the smell of fresh-washed anything ;-).
But I know loads of people who don't prewash.
Update: I should point out that sometimes fabrics can be unpredictable. I never thought this one would run red, since it's a mostly blue and green fabric. (It's an RJR fabric, wish I had more of it, but I'd definitely wash it a few times before using!) Three washings with Synthrapol and a Shout color catcher took the run out. But I was heartbroken when it happened.
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Last edited by TeresaA; 08-07-2016 at 08:36 AM.