BarbZ

One more hint. If you are using teal, some burgandy's, and a lot blue fabrics, wash them as these colors really tend to run a lot. There is stuff you can soak them inand I can't remember the name of it and it will help seal the color.

Gerbie

I had some red fabric to do that when I was making some wall hangings and rug mugs for Christmas a couple years ago. This happened when I was pressing the squares. I couldn't for the life of me figure it out at first, then I measured the square before I sewed it with another one the same size and measured it again after pressing, tried just pressing the red alone with measuring before after pressing, sure enough it was the red from pressing it. I was sick, because I couldn't find another red in town. A dear friend was coming in from near Dallas and stopped at Abilene and picked up some more fabric for me. I have never purchased that brand of fabric since. I also had this to happen with some gingham fabric I was using in a quilt. I think part of the reason was because the gingham is much thinner fab. than in past years.
If you are unhappy with it now, you will be forever, so take it out and start over to be happy my friend.

mimee4

I feel for you. I was making a Trip Around the World and one fabric did shrink with steam. I did take out all of that fabric - a lot of work but definitely worth it.

patdesign

It pays to read the labels, nothing comes into my home unless it is 100% cotton, then it gets prewashed. Better safe than sorry. Yes it is a lot of work to "unstitch", but you will be happy in the long run, and thank goodness you caught it before it was finished. Just remember some deep color fabrics may run (if not pre washed) so maybe this was a good thing!:)

Annaquilts

My thoughts for what it is worth. It is lower end quality and the fabric is shrinking as you are ironning and starching. You might consider taking it out.

GailG

I don't think it matters WHERE we have purchased our fabric. It's just that some fabrics shrink more than others. This has happened to me, but the one that was "shrinking" had some polyester (it was a broadcloth) content so it was the cotton setting on the iron was "melting" some of the fabric away and causing it to shrink. I changed my iron setting and got better results. One other thing I did in order not to lose what I had already done was: I trimmed the pieces a little smaller to make the ends even (these were strips I was piecing, so it worked)

Vanuatu Jill

I also hate to see Joann's get bagged - they carry all types of fabrics, to cater to all types of sewers and quilters. After many years of buying there, I know how to pick out the quality cottons - no, they are not all the same-you have to take care to know what you are purchasing and if you want good quality, stick to their higher priced brand names (not Keepsake-most of that is mediocre quality) and feel before you buy. And no, they don't have the good selection of the premium brands the LQS has, but you can get good quality for much less if you know how to use their sales/coupons. ALWAYS check the fabric content and brand name when buying off their clearance table - but sometimes I have noticed a piece of fabric will get wrapped around a plain or generic cardboard. It's a gamble unless you are already familiar with that fabric and know the line. I have purchased the majority of my fabrics there and now, always stick to the premium/designer names and go by feel as the real test. Sorry, but I like quality, but can't afford the prices at LQS (unless I get them off the sale table), and never buy fabric unless I get at least 40-50% off. The premium fabrics go on sale frequently for 30-40% off, then use my Joann's card for an extra 10% off, or, like now, have an extra 20% off everything coupon. Now, I can go buy those lovely fabrics I want and get them for 50% off. And if you can't wait until they go on sale, use a 40-50% off coupon (s) and make your own sale. There are always pleanty of them.
Sorry you had this problem, but the point I wanted to make is that not all their fabric is cr@% - and not to be put off by one piece you bought that wasn't a better quality quilting fabric.

mojo11

Sorry to hear this. I always prewash all my fabric. Shrinkage can happen to any fabric, even well-known name brands.

callie

Some fabrics do shrink with steam (or washing). I had that same problem a little over a year ago... and I discovered it when I was pressing.

GailG

this reminds me of something I learned in a stretch and sew class many years ago. The fabrics were stretch polyesters that looked like wool, linen, etc. We used a woven fusible interfacing. BEFORE we did the fusing, she had us to place the interfacing in place and set it with our hands getting it all neat and ready to fuse. THEN we held the steam iron about an eighth of an inch hovering over the interfacing and then we gave it a blast of steam without the iron touching the fabric. We could SEE that interfacing fabric draw up. We did this over the hole piece until it had drawn up as much as "it wanted to." Then we fused the piece in place. Washing the garments was never a problem with shrinking interfacings. That may be an idea that could be used in quilting. I know I use it on occasion to test the shrinkage of my unwashed pieces before I seam them.