QuiltingHaven

Okay, I am getting ready to do the Lattice Quilt in the "Block" and I spent the day washing all the charm packs to make the quilt. Now, I know a lot of people have said "don't wash pre-cuts" but I didn't want to get the quilt done and then wash it and have it shrink. So, I opened the 4 packages of the several charms that I have purchased over the past couple years from several companies including Missouri Star Quilt Co. I sorted them into darks and lights, and then put the darks in 3 nylon mesh bags with a color catcher in each one and the lights in 3 nylon mesh bags with a color catcher in each one. I did two loads, one dark with my other laundry and one light with my other laundry in warm water with standard detergent. When done, I had slightly color catchers with shaded blues and blacks and reds, nothing on the lighter colors. I took them out of the bags and gently spread them out, made a damp pile of them, put a used color catcher on the pile and put a detergent container on top of each pile to pre-press them the easy way. Left them for about an hour and then I took them to the ironing board. I sprayed them with starch and pressed them. Some only lost about 1/8th or 1/4th of an inch (usually on one side only) in the washing process and most were still exact 5 inches. Whew!!! I had already washed the lattice material and didn't want it to not play nice with the other. Just letting you know, we can wash them before quilting with very little damage to the final quilt. Will post a picture once I get the 156 pieces put together.....I must have lost my mind!!!

quiltingcandy

When I washed my charm packs I did it with a salad spinner and warm water. Thought it was never going to end, but was glad I did it, since I was going to hand sew them.

franc36

I'm impressed that you washed so many charms. It is wonderful that most of them turned out well. I made the Lattice quilt when the video came out. I did not wash my charms. I was watching Jenny and saw her sewing the two halves of the charm to the lattice strip. I had made over 60 blocks that way before I looked at the video again and saw that the quilt had different fabric on each side of the lattice strip. Fortunately, I had a new seam ripper. Once I re sewed those blocks, my quilt ended up being one of the prettiest quilts I have ever made. I am so glad to have Block magazine. If I had waited for it, and followed the written instructions, I could have avoided the ripping. The written instructions for that quilt are excellent. I hope you will enjoy making the Lattice quilt as much as I did. I can't wait to see your finished quilt!

Dolphyngyrl

Most shrinkage actually comes from batting and density of quilting in most quilts unless using cheap fabrics. I have quilts that were not prewashed that aren't really that crinkly. I still have never quite gotten into prewashing quilting fabrics. I just recently wash tons of muslin for embroidery and found it very tedious and it drove me about nuts with the prep and ironing/starching post wash and dry. Thats the one qualm I have with embroidery is the prewashing to avoid puckers. I even washed really nice flannel to find out hardly any shrinkage and that I had really wasted the extra time. I have been trying to understand the washing thing for 15 years

Prism99

I agree with Dolphyngyrl about the prewashing. (I would do the same with muslin for embroidery, by the way!) Once fabric is quilted, the batting takes over how much the fabric can shrink.

Harriet Hargrave brought a flannel quilt to class to demonstrate that even flannel does not need prewashing (for shrinkage) as long as it is quilted reasonably well to the batting. She measured the quilt before and after washing; it shrank exactly the amount that the batting predicted. (Batting was Hobbs 80/20.)

Ever since that class I have never bothered to prewash. If I suspect a fabric might bleed, I test a small piece and wash only if it shows a lot of bleeding. I always do the first wash of a quilt with Synthrapol in the largest front-loading washing machine at the laundromat. This ensures that any small bleeds will not settle into other fabrics.

I can understand prewashing fabric if one is sensitive to the chemicals in fabric, or if the fabric is really dirty. Otherwise, I just don't see the need to expend all that time and effort on something that is really unnecessary.

Cathieinut

I went to a lecture in the past where Harriet Hargroves mentioned that she doesn't wash but knows that there are many experts who do wash. She also explained the whole bleeding thing by saying in a nutshell that it's not the fact that a fabric may release color/dye but it's how the other fabrics in the quilt react to that color/dye. Sometimes the combination of fabrics has one that will release color and another one will pick it out of the water so to speak and it ends up depositing on the second fabric (the one that is not bleeding)...if you combine the same bleeding fabric with one that won't pick up the color then it won't matter how much the first one releases color it just won't cause a problem. She says that she does tests on pairs of fabrics if she wants to be sure.
She also discussed things like the soap/detergent combined with the water you use may or may not cause the color discharging. If she still does the lecture it is really worth the time to listen.

117becca

While your idea is great - wouldn't have thought about it, i don't pre-wash because i'm too anxious to get started on the project

Geri B

Well I don't feel like the renegade after reading the posts from fellow non- prewashers........if I suspect a color will bleed, I will cut a small piece, put in cup of HOT water and see..if it bleeds..I replace it...easier that way, takes the possibility of yuck out of the project...also....using washing machine to do all this fabric washing,then dryer for drying..,then pressing...not energy conscious .....water/power....those with reactions to "new" fab, have no choice....
I just want to sew and do laundry another day!

scrapinmema

I have never prewashed my fabric but always wash the finished project using the color catchers and expect a very small amount of shrinkage and that will usually come from the batting. After all of these years have been fortunate not to have any problems.