Alyce, I do wash my quilts once they're finished -- I know I am horribly old-fashioned in a lot of ways -- I've only made a few quilts. Only two of them have been completely finished and delivered to the intended recipient, and those were both washed. The quilts I make have, thus far, been very large quilts -- all king-size, or even larger (the red and white log cabin I did) and I'm still working on finishing them. I've had some serious spinal problems in the past, and every time I've tried to sandwich a quilt, I end up incapacitated and in the bed for at least a couple of days afterward. For that reason, I've not accomplished much. My biggest problem is I really don't have a place to work on sandwiching my quilts so I don't glue-baste either. We're working on that now, by expanding my Hinterberg hand-quilting frame. If it works the way I think it will, I'll be able to sit and pin-baste, with no bending, etc. That's my goal. I don't want to become useless in my "later" years (I'll soon be 72), but I'm very much opposed to pain! LOL!