Today I bought fat quarters from the Black, White & Currant by Color Principle for Henry Glass collection. I'm trying to decide if I should wash and dry them. There is so much debate about this, what do most of you do? I'm sure this is on the board somewhere but I don't know how to look for it. All of you are so wonderful and helpful, its like all of you are friends. Happy New Year to everyone.

I always pre-wash, especially to make sure they're colorfast. I often will put an old white sock in the load so I can easily see if any dye comes out of the fabric. I knew someone who did a red and white quilt once without pre-washing. First wash of the finished quilt was a disaster.

For fat quarters I usually do not wash unless it is for a swap . They are so small to begin with and can tangle really bad. But if they were red I would probably try since that is the color that tmeds to run the most

I agree with Sharon...sometimes I cut off a corner and drop it in a clear glass with a little bit of hot water and see if it bleeds.

I don't ever pre-wash except when requested for a swap. I haven't had a problem and I use brights all the time, especially red.

I seldom wash fabric before using. If a dark or bright color I'll check it for bleeding first and if it does I don't use it in a quilt, it will just fade fast.

That is what I do too.

I always prewash everything. Fat quarters are the smallest precuts I ever buy, and not all that often, but those get prewashed just like everything else.

Please prewash. Recently I was working on a shower gift for a niece (placemats, napkins, tablecloth etc) her colours were black and a deep red. I thought I was safe to wash these colours together without thinking about the fact that two of the fabrics had white polka dots. I ended up with blacks and reds with pink polka dots. Needless to say I headed back to the fabric store to correct the situation. Lesson learned

I always prewash. I hand wash the smaller pieces.