My experience with flannel is it shrinks alot!

I just purchased some flannel from Jo Ann's last week for my husband's lap quilt. After washing and drying the flannel, I'm already in the process of sewing it to the quilt top. Now I see someone mention washing and drying flannel more than once. Not sure I want to rip out what I already sewed to wash and dry it again. Hopefully it will be okay?

ScrapyAZ, don't worry about washing/drying again since you have already stitched it to the top. At least you've washed it once. I prewash all my flannels since not all of them come from the same store and they do not all shrink at the same rate. I do it once and do not worry about washing it again.

you should always buy more flannel than you need. Then before you cut it you should finish the ends and wash and dry it three (3) times. This usually takes care of all the shrinkage.

I even had expensive Maywood Flannel shrink. Started out at 42" wide - shrunk to 37" wide. I ALWAYS now wash my flannel in very hot water and dry at high heat.

Yes, this does not insure no additional shrinkage, however as I am not usually a pre washer, I figure if it shrinks a tad more it is OK.

I sure hope you're right! This is my first time working with flannel, and I'd hate to have problems with it. Is there anything I should do after the flannel is completely stitched to the top? Fingers are crossed!

when I purchase flannel I usually get an extra 1/2 yard and sometimes an extra. Can always make a furbaby a jacket! Always pre-wash everything!

Don't forget, your batting will shrink some too when the quilt is washed, perhaps enough to balance out any additional shrinkage from the flannel? Even though it will shrink a little more, the majority of the shrinkage should already be done with the first wash and dry. As long as the flannel piece is as big as your quilt top, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I personally love the nice dimpled old fashioned look when everything draws up a bit in the dryer.

JoAnn's flannel, that I'm afraid says it all. All flannel shrinks but theirs is unusually cheesy. just my opinion!!!

I agree about Joann's. I have some flannel fat quarters from them and after washing, they are closer to parallelograms (very bad ones, at that) than rectangles.