tangledthread

I just spent 5 months on a quilt, fussy cutting, squaring up, FMQ just to wash it and find out it shrank 6" both ways, I will always pre-wash from here on out.

trif

I only pre wash flannel since it tends to shrink the most, the rest of the fabric gets washed after it's a completed quilt, binding and all I just toss in a color catcher into the wash and viola' no worries for me:)

clsurz

Most quilt guilds require that 100% cotton be used and washed when doing projects or trying for swaps therefore I wash everything first and than use it in my projects.

janedb

thx, thats very interesting. a few different techniques are around i see to get different looks.

much appreciated.

janedb

thankyou thats a good reason to pre-wash.

janedb

hi. do you tumble dry then iron with starch. ? a few people have mentioned needing to use starch. to stiffen up the fabric again to cut properly ? is this neccessary.

ckcowl

you can purchase batting's that have little to no shrinkage- it is really not necessary to pre-wash your batting. if you want tough- gonna last through many washes usable quilts poly batts will hold up without shrinkage much better than cotton which does shrink. there are many different batts on the market and being new you may want to try everything- start a little batt journal- when you buy a batt cut a 6" (or what ever size you like) square and write down the name of the batt, where you found it, how much it cost, the quilting recommendations (each batt will tell you if you have to quilt every 2" *very dense quilting* or if you can quilt up to 10" apart and everything in between)
and then add what you think of it when you use it...was it easy to sew through, did it pull apart? did you like it or hate it?
i am a long-arm er and have customers bring their own batts all the time- some i hate to work with some i love, some are ok...the ones i really hate to work with i talk to the customer about when they bring it, letting them know why i don't like it, showing them when possible and sometimes switching it to something else- sometimes even if i hate it i use it because it is what is believed to be the right batt for that project.
start with reading the packages, and buy one that sounds good to you- and try it.. :thumbup:

ckcowl

starting the day with double posts- sorry

watterstide

I only pre-wash Batiks, reds and blacks,flannel never batting, i use warm and natural/white about 90 percent of the time.

invest in a box color catchers

things i would never pre-wash,even if i washed first:
Fabric Panels,anything with a stripe in it,precuts(charms,jelly rolls etc.)

they get all wonky,with the design. IMHO

katesnanna

Hi Jane and welcome. It is best to wash fabric asap. That way it is ready to go when you want it.
Starching the fabric after washing just makes it better to work with. Starch is preferable to chemicals. IMHO.