I must be doing something wrong -
 

I have had fabric shrink and fabric bleed.

I have bought fabric (at LQS) that had flaws that I missed.

How do some people never ever have any of those problems?

Ya got me, because I have had all those things happen too. One piece of fabric shrank so bad it was destorted and bled like crazy.

I think we all have had a piece of fabric that does have some sort of flaw in it. Just the other day a friend showed me 2 pieces of fabric that had a light area going down the fold side. It looked like it was in the LQS window and got faded by the sun. She called the LQS and they told her to send it back with receipt and they would give her credit. So it does happen.

I quilt on the edge. LOL

I work in a LQS, and we see it occasionally. But not that often. There have been a couple lines of fabric that came with an information page, telling us to inform our customers that the fabric was likely to bleed. Gee's Bend hand dye was one. And we have a 54" wide chambray collection that we warn the customers about.

If I'm measuring out yardage, I try to spot any imperfections, and point them out to the customer. If we find anything, we can give them 30% off, or cut a new piece. It's not a happy day when an imperfection is smack dab in the center of a big piece! But sometimes we can work around it.

Woven (yarn dyed or homespun) fabrics have imperfections. It's just a fact that we have to live with. It's what gives it character.

Some white on white fabrics have bits of other colored threads in them occasionally. It's like other fabric lint was in the air when the WOW was being woven, and it got woven in. Sometimes they can be picked out. Those fabrics are a lower price for that reason.

Lots of my fabric was bought at thrift shops and I found many imperfections, but I guess that's why they ending up at thrift shops in the first place. I just cut the pieces I need avoiding the bad spots. If I bought fabric at a regular price in a LQS, I'd yell and return it in a minute!!

I never wash without a color catcher. Sometimes I throw two in just to be sure.

I don't know that they never have any of the problems you listed, I just think they never admit it!

Reminds me of the time when I was a teen and I went to my mom's office. Everyone there was over-the-top nice and kept telling me what a wonderful, polite, bright, sweet person I was. I made a comment later about it to my mom and she told me they all thought that because she never, ever once complained about me or my brothers, while everyone else shared their struggles with their kids. So they all thought we were nearly perfect (which, of course we weren't!) That taught me a lesson. :thumbup:

If you give away a quilt and the fabrics run when it's washed, you don't usually find out about it. I think that's part of why some people can say they've never had a problem.

When I give a quilt as a gift I always give a box of color catcher with it with washing instructions.

I have no clue, except what dunster mentioned--that the giver never finds out from the recipient that colors ran when they washed a gift quilt.

I once asked a LQS owner how she always sewed the store samples and even her personal quilts without ever washing first but never had a problem. I would be scared silly to make a whole quilt . She said she doesn't have time to wash and iron fabric for the store samples (I understand that but still cringe), and if she were to wash them she'd used color catchers. But once a color like red bleeds onto white , color catchers aren't gonna catch the excess. I just scratch my head at the phrase 'I've never had a problem." I wonder if the person has used any color darker than beige. ?

No clue. I've had all those problems plus some you didn't mention. :D

I don't know either, but I'm right there with you!! I always wash, and I have had lots of bleeders, and shrinkers too. I discovered a flaw in my current project while quilting it, but decided to leave it. it's small, and I figure that if it took me this long to see it, others might not see it!!

My LQS owner told me you don't have to wash quality quilting fabric but I wash it anyway. I don't seem to see much bleeding these days with those good fabrics. But, I do see a slug now and then or a snag in the weaving process. I, too, would be pretty upset if I paid full price for a piece of fabric and it was sun faded. That would go back in a second.

. I always wash my finished quilts and put them in the dryer because that’s what I want the recipients to be able to do. Plus they always look different after that process and I don’t want them to think they did something wrong. I am not a prewasher but have been known to snip off a piece of a suspected bleeder to test it.

Luckily, I have never had fabric bleed. I usually make queen size quilts, and I buy my fabric at LQS and wash with 3 color catchers to make sure all is okay before I gift them. Just this past week, I was making metallic/neutral placemats and pre-washed my fabric (which I never do but did not want any lumps or shrinkage in my placemats) and had one piece lose its metallic, which made it useless after that. It was the Moda grunge that has the metallic stars on them. I called LQS, and they are going to tell their customers and issue a refund to me.

With using color catchers, It seems many fabrics will release excess dye. What is interesting to me is that not all fabric will absorb excess die.

I had one quilt with a navy print that bled, and I washed it several times. And it bled again when washed after quilting. The other colors were pink/red with white prints. Some of them turned a bit blue, and many of them stayed bright. And yes, I used color catchers. My son took the quilt, he liked that the pinks were toned to blue.


But that was only the second of about 100 quilts that I had problems with - so only two fabrics that caused problems in completed quilts.

Guess I've been buying "inferior" fabric lines - Michael Miller, Kaufmann, Hoffman, Benartex, Jinny Beyer (but I think she has gone with different manufacturers over the years) - etc.
A few other lines that I have forgotten.

That’s a splendid idea...I think I’ll start doing the same thing.

as a non-quilter, if I got a quilt with a box of color catchers I'd probably put it in the closet rather than use it, get it soiled, and have to wash it.

I have a red and white quilt that I have washed probably 30 or 40 times, and one of the reds still bleeds. I use a color catcher every time I wash it and the color catcher always comes out pink. This fabric was all prewashed. I is just a part of this quilt.

When I started quilting (about 4 years ago) I had no idea that it could be a problem and had no one advising me and took no classes. My first quilt was red and cream. At the flimsy stage I thought if I washed it I could square it up better. As a beginner my seams were a little inconsistent. What a shock I had. I had a number of bleeders, the worst offender was one of the first I purchased and one of the most expensive, all fabrics were bought at quilt stores. Some pieces - log cabin 1 1/2" strips - were so bad that I took out the whole block and in others I replaced the strip . I tried washing one or two more times. It is only this winter that I have actually gotten it finished. P-BurgKay I hope that I don't have the same story to tell in my future.

I guess some have better luck than me. That is why I always check and wash before I do anything else as I have had all those problems.

I think the more expensive fabrics have more dye. I don't buy from LQS and not as many problems.

I had a deep red Moda fabric bleed and bleed and bleed...no matter what I did. Finally, I took it back the my LQS. They said the dye was never "set" in the fabric and it would continue to bleed. They sent it back to Moda. I received replacement fabric plus more.... I was taking a block of the month from my LQS. They cut all the pieces. I was starching my block and all of the purple fabric bled into the white squares. They did not prewash. When I told the store owner she said, don't mention it to anyone else. What?....she did not replace the purple fabric. It was a BOM, where we had to show our finished block to get the next package....when I showed her the bleed....she said..sometimes that happens. Done with that store.

Did these incidents happen with/at the same store? or two different ones?

Since I work mainly from scraps, I don't prewash. Most of our quilts were sold over the years and our name is on each one. And it's a very unusual name, too - any one with that name is a relative. So if someone had a problem, they could find us to complain, but no one ever did. I often wonder where all those quilts are and how they are doing. I was at a rummage sale in the next town on Thursday and recognized a couple of potholders I had made!!.

The one big problem I have nightmares about but never happened, is finding out after quilting that the backing is wrong side out.

I want the fabric to shrink up after quilting, it's the crinkly look I am after.

I've been lucky with bleeding, maybe - but if a piece concerns me, I'll do the water in a white bowl, wipe with a white cloth test. I've had one burgundy Moda that was a runner.

Have never found a slub after purchase; I have had a clerk remark while cutting that she didn't think it was right and pushed that aside and started over. My guess is that those end up cut to fat quarters.

I was surprised to find out how many flaws per yard are permissible in fabric that is sold as first quality (not seconds). If I was in charge, it would be zero!! Always pays to look over the fabric, both sides, carefully, before you pay for it.

I rarely pre-wash--I rub a white paper hard on any fabric that is a deep color (darks, batiks, etc) and if any color shows then it does get pre-washed, otherwise it's not prewashed. I like the fabric to have some sizing when I cut and sew it. I do attach wash/dry instructions to all quilts that I gift--and part of that includes throwing in a couple of color catchers--which I do every time I wash a quilt. The one exception is with a child's quilt, which I do wash out.

I know others will saw that's gross that it's not washed before gifting--but when we buy a bed spread, does it get washed first?

one big reason I wash before gifting is that I use cotton batting and don’t prewash. The quilt will definitely look different after washing and I don’t want the recipient to think they ruined it. Also, I glue baste so have to wash the glue out. But when I pin basted I always washed before gifting.

Some people don't talk about 'those' problems. That's not the same as never having them.