I used to wash and press my fabrics but that got to be such a drag. So now I have unwashed and washed in the same quilt and I haven't found any problems with it. I wash all my quilts using the color catchers before giving them to the recipents as they are all gifts. Only one quilt ever bled and someone here told me to wash it again though its been in the dryer too. The stain came out just fine to my relief. It was a quilt for my mother no less. I also starch my fabrics these days before cutting so if they're going to bleed or shrink, some of it will have already happened.

I would definitely recommend washing red fabrics before quilting. I made a lone star quilt then washed it and the red dye ruined the quilt even with 3 colour catchers in.hope the picture shows the mess not washing before quilting caused.white became pink.

I wash because of not knowing where the fabric has been. I've seen people wipe themselves with the fabric after coming in from the hot weather and being sweaty. So I pre-wash!

Tess, Hopefully that was not happening in your LQS. Yikkies.

Judy in Phx, AZ

To reduce the confusion of having a stash containing both washed and unwashed fabric, I put a tiny safety pin in the fabric that has been washed. I do wash all of my fabric before using, but not necessarily right away. For small scraps, I have Ziplocs for each of the various colors or for finished projects. I put a small piece of paper in each bag saying "WASHED." If I happen to have a bunch of non-washed fabric, I do the same thing but with an "UNWASHED" notation in the bag.

I do the safety pin thing with batting remnants that have been pre-soaked.

The main reason I pre-wash is to remove the chemicals that destroy my hands, otherwise I wouldn't. If I am going to hand sew my pre-cuts I wash them in mesh bags or a salad spinner if it is a charm pack. I bought a cheap one at Bed, Bath & Beyond with a coupon, but should have checked out the local thrift stores.

Thanks, everyone. The scrappy I wanted to start has 2.5" squares. I was more worried about the uneven shrinkage than the color bleeding by mixing them. Without W&D in residence, not prewashing will be fabulous!

Uneven shrinking is not an issue in a quilt with a normal amount of quilting. This is because, once quilted, the batting controls shrinkage of the fabrics. Fabrics vary a lot in shrinkage when washed on their own. However, this changes after quilting.

If you are worried about shrinkage you could wet the unwashed pieces of fabric (I used a spray bottle of water to do this) and then iron them dry before you use them.

I don't wash store bought fabrics but I do wash fabrics I find in 2nd hand stores or yard sales. They all get used together with out any problems. But I wash every thing in cold water. I have noticed that by washing in cold and hanging to dry I don't have to do hardly any ironing on yardage.