if it is a gift they will probably use a washer and dryer. Better to know now if there will be a problem.

I live in a condo and my patio is big, yet there's no room to hange things, so i dry in the dryer on light fluff (air dry).

I machine dry all of my baby quilts because I know that is what the mother is going to do. I also tell them to machine wash on cool or cold and dry in a low dryer. So far all my quilts have lasted.
My larger quilts I do mostly the same thing, but I will usually take them out and hang them over a drying rack (one of the wooden fold up type) but that is because I get tired of taking it out and re-positioning it in the dryer. But I start in the dryer to remove a lot of the weight from the water.

Yes, machine drying is different in that it is the POUNDING that shrinks fabric. I learned this from sheep farmers who make their own yarn. Same for cotton though. This is why I always wash my fabric first. Pre-shrink. Then I use Dream Queen poly that doesn't shrink for batting. When in the future it is laundered, there won't be differing parts shrinking at different percentages.

This may not be true at all, but in the past I have read that it is not good to hang up wet quilts as the weight of it causes lots of stress on the seams and stitching. But I don't have an outdoor clothes line any more so don't know if there is any validity to this or not.

yep, it will. I sent my Sister one i line dried. Was wrinkled like mad. I should have tossed it into the dryer a bit.

I put mine in the dryer, but they still come out with damp areas, so then I drape it over a bedroom door to finish drying.

When I have had to wash some of my antique quilts I hand washed them in the bath tub, blotted out some of the excess water and then laid them on a sheet on top of the grass. Then covered with another sheet in case of bird droppings. Obviously, have to wait for a "perfect weather" day. I like a little wind and don't place them in direct sun. So because the quilt has not been compressed and wrinkled in the washing machine, it is not wrinkled after it is dry. Now that I am making quilts, I prewash most fabric, then machine wash and dry when completed. Because I plan that they will be used, I want to know that they will stand up to washing and drying, check for loose seams, etc.

As far as line drying, I do have a clothes line and enjoy hanging out some items. I grew up hanging clothes outside. The reality is though, that most machine washed item will dry more stiffly and wrinkly than they will in a dryer.

I wash bed quilts with 2 color catchers and then put them into the dryer until almost dry. So far, I've I have not had any problems. I figure that the recepient is going to throw them in the washer anyway so I want to test them out. I don't wash any wallhangings.

I agree, I doubt 10% of the people in the USA line dry any more.