I bought Patty Reed panels today (at JoAnn's 50% off red tag sale) to make fish pillows as Christmas gifts for my great-nephews. They will love these pillows!!! (One lives on a boat and loves to fish and the other one has several fish tanks at home.) I usually pre-wash everything to avoid unpleasant surprises and also to wash out chemicals, etc. Do you think it would hurt to pre-wash the panels before cutting? I was thinking of pre-washing them and then using some light spray sizing to restore any body lost in washing. What do you think?

I'd wash the fabric first. Is it a VIP?

I've washed panels before with no problems.

i have pre-washed a panel, and then i could not cut them out, because the "borders" around them, moved, got wonky. no amount of pressing, would get them back to straight.

i wanted to cut all the "pictures with borders out and re-make into a baby quilt. for me? never again. i would rather deal with shrinkage after i washed it. IMHO

I don't know... What's a VIP?

Oh, I didn't even think of that... I better take a look at the grain before I make a decision. Thank you!

Whether you are going to make them as fish pillows or going to use the 'fish' as appliques (to make a bigger pillow), I would suggest washing the fabric first, then starching the fabric so that is will cut and sew better. If you adding any other fabrics to the pillow, you should wash those, too.

The basic rule is either everything is washed or everything not washed. When you wash everything first the different rates of shrinking will all be the same when it is washed again.

Personally, I prefer to wash everything on a gentle cycle, a tiny bit of soap, and with a Shout Color Catcher in the wash. The color catcher will collect the over-dye and washing will get rid of any chemicals put in the fabric like formaldehyde.

Also, be sure to dry it in a hot dryer to get it to shrink the most.

Hope this helps.