I don't. I make a lot of scrap quilts so it would be hard. I got my scraps from a lady who had a cottage industry making hundreds of quilts a year. She never prewashed.

some people do=some don't - it is a personal choice...if you choose not to you need to at least color test reds- dark bright colors to make sure they don't bleed other than that == people make fabulous quilts with unwashed fabrics---and with washed fabrics...

I prewash because some sizings make my asthma act up and I start weezing

There are all sorts of people that will jump in here and tell you all kinds of reasons why you really, really, REALLY should wash your fabric or else!

If you don't want to spend a whole lot of time washing and ironing fabric, ignore them. It's a whole lot of work to wash and iron and starch 10 yards of fabric before you even get to cutting.

The main reason people give for washing seems to be dye bleeding. If it's not set in the original it won't be set in anything that picks it up and will wash out of that item too. Most fabrics don't pick fugitive dye up out of the wash anyway. Wash a red and white together. If the red bleeds and the white doesn't pick the dye up, it's not a problem.

One of the top quilters in the counry, Harriet Hargrave, does not prewash fabric. She and her daughter have written a series of books called "Quilter's Academy" and I highly recommend the first book for all quilters. Harriet has been quilting since the '70s at least so I'll bet she's had more than enough experience to be a true authority.

:thumbup: Phrase of the day! ;-)

I don't usually unless I'm afraid it will bleed. I usually test a small piece in a white coffee filter soaked in a bit of water to see if it does

Oh gosh, we have had many many discussions and very little agreement on this topic!!! I don't prewash, except for flannel, but sometimes pretest a small piece of the fabric.

Do this experiment, wash a load of clothes with plenty of colors, that doesn't have anything new in it, and throw in a color catcher. Bet the color catcher comes out with dye on it. Before you threw that color catcher in you didn't even know any of the dyes were bleeding but it wasn't a problem either. I have clothes that I've had for at least a couple of years that are still bleeding dye. Nothing picks up the fugitive dye though so it's not a problem.

Always prewash, don't like surprises. You get a good feel for the material when you do. Always starch when pressing the material to give back the sizing.

I prewash reds as they are notorious for bleeding and all flannels as they shrink. And then always wash after completion to get rid of any remaining sizing, basting spray, and soils from my hands. It also gives it that soft and cuddly look and feel which I love.