I purchased a pack of Moda 5 inch charms. I washed them before I cut them. Some of them shrank! and are now 5 inch by 4 1/2. Anyone else have this happen? Luckily I need them to cut some 2x5 strips out them. Sure glad I washed them before I put them in a quilt and have them shrink later! Does Moda Charms and other big name brands usually come prewashed or am I just spoiled by the ones I've got on Ebay that are prewashed.

I don't wash them. that's the only problem with them. you must use them with other fabric that hasn't been washed so it will all shrink together.
some people soak them and lay them out but i'm sure different fabrics shrink more than others even so.

So why wouldn't you wash all materials before cutting and sewing ? That way the shrinking would be before you put the quilt together. Then later if you wash your quilt there would be very little if any shrinkage.

this is why i won't buy charms, jelly's, turnovers, etc.

i wash all my fabric before i cut and sew.

i've learned the hard way that dyes run, fabric shrinks at different rate, etc.

unless you never intend to wash the quilt after its finished you should wash all fabrics first.

I would never wash jelly rolls or charm packs. I can see a big mess of scraps to deal with. So far I haven't had any of the precut fabric shrink or bleed to bother the quilt after it's sewn. I have only bought Moda or other name brand fabrics when using chams or rolls. Bali Pops are my new favorite! None has bleed at all.

To those that prewash fabric do you also prewash batting?

if its a utility quilt i pre-soak my batting and then put it in the dryer

I wash it all before I cut and sew. Although it might not be the best thing to do i wash it when I get home from the quilt store so it is ready to sew when I need it..

Quilting pretty much keeps fabric from shrinking a lot if you don't prewash. I took a class from Harriet Hargrave, and she showed us a flannel quilt she had made to prove her point. She did not prewash the flannel and machine quilted the quilt. There was no shrinkage at all that we could see. She said that machine quilting keeps everything in place.

I don't prewash fabrics or batting because I like the gentle crinkling effect I get when I wash the finished quilt. I think this shrinkage and crinkling is primarily from the batting (I use 100% cotton).

The fabrics all do need to be similar in weight and quality, I think. For example, HH did not mix flannel and regular cottons in the quilt she showed us.

I have never prewashed batting. I use warm and Natural and once the quilt (baby quilt 36x36) is complete I wash. I have not tried this on a large quilt.

If I had to wash the batting before use I wouldn't be buying that batting anymore. Laundry is laundry no matter what is being washed. I dislike doing laundry.

AMEN - tell it like it is :!: :!:

I have never chosen to pre-wash any fabric or batting - all my quilts have turned out ok after washing them when they are finished. I do like the 'old' look though.

Fabrics can and do shrink differently... even ones by the same maker, from the same collection. I would have *thought* that those at least would all behave the same, but I've learned differently.

As to eBay... I've looked at those listings, where people are selling charms or squares, all pre-washed... and I've wondered, how on EARTH do they have the time to do all that work, and sell the squares for so little? They're probably not even making minimum wage for all their efforts. Gee.

:shock: HEAD IS SPINNING!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: There are more opinions here than Carter's got liver pills ............... :lol: OK - so that's an old saying and I'm showing my age.

OP -- sorry your charm packs shrank! How disappointing when you're wanting to make a quilt with 5" squares!!!!! Good luck!

for cut fabric, i always wash it and No i don't wash batting. the whole quilt gets washed when done. unless it's a wall hanging. but then i'd even wash that if i'd used fusible batting or spray fusible on it.

i wash all fabric because:

1. see above
2. they're loaded with chemicals and dust that i don't care to keep handling

after tossing one king-sized warm &natural in the dryer, i'm never washing it in the washer. i wash when i'm done and i live with the puckers. if it's a hanging, i don't wash when i'm through, but i have still washed the fabrics due to #2 above.

after i wash the fabric, i hand-press, fold it accordian style, but don't iron until i am about to use it.

"I don't prewash fabrics or batting because I like the gentle crinkling effect I get when I wash the finished quilt."

That is my favorite thing, getting the quilt done and washing it! Love how it looks and haven't had any problems with shrinkage. Used some real high loft batting once, used a pressing cloth and flattened it down. Put in the quilt and it quilted fine. When I washed it, it fluffed back up and really turned out pretty. Guess we just do what works best for ea of us....viva la difference! :D

I'm a prewasher--carry over from my clothes sewing days. I hate it when fabrics run, too! Now my BF, she never prewashes her quilting fabrics.

Yes, I had the same experience with my Moda Charm Squares. It was very disapointing since after washing I didn't have enough fabric left to make my 2 1/2 inch squares.

After talking to other quilters, I was told that even if Moda is supposed to be so great that it will shrink just like the cheap stuff.

I prewash just about everything---no surprises that way.
(I also had Kona Red run and run and run even though it was washed several times with a color catcher. I plan to wash it with restayne (spelling?) that apparently sets the dye colors.)

Moda shrinks a LOT. And as you saw, it shrinks in one direction. Nice fabric, but you have to prewash it.

I wash/preshrink cotton batting except when I want that puckery look.

i had a terrible time with fuzzies from machine drying 80/20 good quality batting. i dried it with a wet washcloth and i used it but i was not a happy camper. it makes me fearful of washing batting in advance. i use king battings. how would you suggest i pre-shrink them without stretching them out of shape or have them stick together or getting all pilly?

I soak it in the washer, not agitating, then spin it out. Then I throw it in the dryer.

If my batting is going to misbehave, I want to know about it before I put it into a quilt!

in my case, it was the dryer that done me wrong. spinning it around would make it stick together, wouldn't it? wouldn't it thin out some of the areas due to the weight of the water?

Not after you have spun it dry. When a warm'n natural batting is soaked and spun out, it really isn't very heavy at all.

okay. i'll try it on your say-so. but if i end up with a tangled mess, i'll have to hunt you down and hurt you :lol: :lol:

when you dry it in the dryer, what's the procedure?

I think that the charms sold on ebay are prewashed yardage individuals cut up into charms. Charm kits sold by manufacturers are sold unwashed the same as their yardage.

amma, if they're prewashed shouldn't they be safer than unwashed straight from the manufacturer?