minibarn

I am making the quilted bowl holders for my sister and when I washed them they came out looking terrible. I did not preshrink the batting like the package says you can so I wonder if that was the problem. I didn't preshrink because the fabric was not preshrunk and I thought it would be best to just wash them together upon completion. Maybe I should just preshrink both, then assemble. If you have used this product before did you preshrink? Or do they just loose that mice flat look regardless?

Thanks.