I say "yes". JoAnn's has it for $199.00 this weekend, with 30% off accessories!!!!

I think that this is the main reason not to wash precuts because you need them a certain size for your pattern and they won't be that size when washed. Some people just aren't washers and never will be. The shrinkage on quilts isn't enough for me to prewash plus even with prewashed fabric batting shrinks a little bit as well.

I don't know about washing precuts, but, just wanted to tell you I love your beautiful avatar.

Oh Boy! I'm glad you said that! I'm hoping to make 4 throws for my kids&spouses for Christmas, panels on the front and minky on the back. I have the panel fabric all pinned to wash.....now out come the pins and will not prewash! The minky won't shrink, the cotton fabric prob will. I'm not even sure at this point how I'll quilt them, if much at all.....maybe just enough to hold the layers together. How does it mess up the panels.....wonky, crooked, what????
(at the rate I'm going, will prob try to just finish 2 for the out-of-towners and show the other two with a post-Christmas promise-my standard MO!)

I don't prewash. I started off prewashing because I was told you had to or all sorts of disasters would happen. Then a friend that owned a quilt shop pointed out to me they never washed any fabrics for any of the store samples. Besides if the dryer is what shrinks the fabric, my iron is waaaaay hotter than the dryer.

As to bleeding, if it's not set in the original fabric and you didn't do anything to it to set it in something that picks the excess dye up in the wash, it's still not set and will wash out eventually.

Simplest solution, don't wash any of it.

I was wondering if washing to minimize further shrinkage was worth the effort - so i measured hundreds of pieces before and after washing -

A very few did not shrink at all.
Most shrank at least an inch either in width and/or length.
Some shrank over two inches in width and/or length.

As far as brands - I noticed shrinkage in almost all the lines that I have purchased (Michael Miller, Kaufman, Hoffman, Alexander Henry, Oakhurst, Blank, VIP/Cranston, Peter Pan, Moda, RJR, Hi-Fashion, Shamash, SSI, Northcott) - I know I missed a few brands/lines. The list was just to indicate that I had used a few brands that aren't usually found at WalMart.

I also had a red bleeder that was a Moda.

My Mom gave me a pack of 5 inch charm squares - purchased from either Keepsake Quilting or Quilts & Other Comforts. I washed them in the washing machine in barely warm water and dried them in the dryer.

I remember two pieces in particular - one shrank over 1/2 inch (the five-inch square was now only 4.5 inches wide) and one became a parallelogram when the fibers relaxed.

The pieces can be washed before using - but they probably will shrink and/or distort and require reshaping.

I think the bottom line is to do (or not do) what your comfort level will tolerate.

I seldom buy precuts but when I do I prewash & I prewash all yard goods - to control bleeding, not shrinkage. Before I prewash yard goods I use a pair of pinking shears (how many remember/own those) on the cut edges to control raveling- if I do have precuts I was them in a lingerie bag.

My quilting teachers explained that the smaller pieces should not be washed (because of raveling) until they are in a quilt. Because they are so small, the shrinkage should be minimal. I would never wash a jelly roll, etc. until they are quilted.

I'm not a prewasher. I love the crinkly look of quilts and have not had a problem with wonky quilts. It really comes down to personal preference.

I always pre-wash because that was stressed when I decided I wanted to learn how to quilt. My sister-in-law spent about a year making a quilt by copying family pictures onto fabric. Finally finished it early this year. Unfortunately, she had used some bright red fabric to set off all the pictures and as a border. She didn't pre-wash, and, yes, it turned the whole quilt a nice shade of pink. She washed it several times, but it seems the quilt is permanently pink.