Boy am I confused to wash or not to wash. Bought some flannel at Joanns now too afraid to do anything with it. Was told not to make a rag quilt unless I got pricy flannel, others say price doesn't matter, think I'll sit on the flannel for awhile.

If I were going to make a pieced quilt from flannel, I would definitely wash and dry it. I just made flannel PJ's for Christmas and some of the yardage shrank from 45 inches wide to 39 inches. I'm glad I always buy extra for "pattern alterations", etc. I'm thankful I washed BEFORE cutting. Otherwise nothing would have fit in the end.

Every manufacturer's flannel seems to shrink at a different rate. Not all flannels are equal and sometimes the best way to make sure your fabrics will "work" together is to prewash. Of course, I advocate prewashing everything.

If I wanted to use flannel to back a cotton pieced quilt, I would definitely prewash because they shrink at different rates. I may be pickier than others but I want things to lay flat, be square and look right.

Those who use flannel for rag quilts seem to prefer not to prewash because they like the raggy look. That's not something I'm into so I'm sure there are better reasons for not washing in this situation.

I always use a rotary cutter.

Also, when I sew with two flannels from the same collection, I don't bother washing first. However, if you are using flannel from 2 different collections/manufacturers, I would definitely wash and dry it first.

I tend to use the 60mm rotary cutter for flannel as it does dull the blade and there is a lot of cutting to do. The larger blade makes it look like it is going quicker with the cutting time.

I do not pre-wash my flannel.

If you are making a rag type quilt I heartily recommend the Fiskars Rag Snips. Joann's carries them and they have coupons and sales. Or make a friend and borrow theirs.

ali

I have never specifically purchased flannel for a rag quilt. It is usually what is left over from sewing garments. Therefore, my flannel is already washed.