Precuts
 

I wash precuts, except charm squares.

I wash everything.

I don't prewash but I do pre test for bleeding. It only takes a minute.

Thank heavens for color catchers!!!

I'm not shy about precuts from companies like Moda, etc but I had a negative experience from a quilt shop made kit---of course I bought it and then didn't touch it for 3 years so felt like I could not reasonably contacted them--but the red in it was a super bleeder--I washed 3 times with Synthrapol and finally just pitchd it and bought a substitute fabric at the LQS.

Tartan, that's my worry with the Edyta Sitar kit I just bought. It does have yardage for the background but the fabrics for the applique and blocks are precuts and one of the pieces is a deep red.

I have way too much fabrics to buy pre cuts.
I wish you luck washing your kit quilt.

Hey Tartan, I'm the one with the long thread/disaster about ruining my king size red & white quilt because of the marking pens, and the additional scrubbing, & chemicals made some of the red bleed after I thought I has solved that problem. .... So I feel your pain. :( and I am now gun shy of marking pens as you are of precuts. I'm here to support you (those precuts never were that helpful anyway). Let's stick with yardage or fat qtr bundles for variety within a collection......Jane Quilter

I put my precuts in a small pillow case (travel pillow) and then wash them. I let them dry on a laundry rack.

I am reaching the same conclusion, Tartan. My issue is not so much the colors running as it is that the strips are often cut wonky and I lose between 3-5 (minimum) per strip set.I dislike wasting anything. And not prewashing which gets out the excess chemicals and color and allows shrinkage to happen before sewing. Mainly I buy yardage now. Sync,I made a beautiful quilt and it was handquilted by the Amish. The first time I washed it (before knowing about Color Catchers, etc.) the cranberry red bled. The quilt is pretty much toast and stays folded in the closet. Sad. I didn't even think to look to see if the red bled before drying it in the dryer. Lesson learned.

I always assume that reds will run. No matter what company produced them. I have stopped using precuts because they are not cut accurately.

I have a problem with pre cut charms that have the "pinked" (zig zag) edge. When I pair it up with the 5 inch squares that I cut, there is always a fabric shortage on the "pinked" squares

Those pinked squares are to be measured by the tips of the pinking. Then they are more accurate. Lay your pinked edge over the other fabric so you can see the other fabric through the pinking.

I don't use very many precuts but thanks for the head's up

I know there are differences of opinion, and I'm glad for those who don't have troubles with precuts. I have purchased a very few on sale, but even then they were expensive compared to yardage. I like buying a little extra fabric for my inevitable mistakes. I like knowing that I'm not going to have much more shrinkage after the quilt is washed because I've prewashed and preshrunk all the fabric. I'm also not going to have to worry much about colors bleeding. With yardage I'm not limited to pattern choices except by my abilities. I don't think it takes much time to cut strips or squares, and I don't have worry about them being cut off square. I've also been disappointed in the choices of fabrics in some layer cakes and charm packs. With one layer cake, there were 4 fabrics that didn't fit in any way with the other fabrics. There was one that didn't match any color and others that were juvenile patterns put in with rich reds. I've decided precuts are not for me.

I am not a pre-washer. I throw in a couple of color catchers and have always had good luck. I have a red, white and blue flag quilt. I know it has been washed before at least twice. It hangs high on the wall in my entry foyer and is hard to get down to wash. Beside you can't see the dust on it up that high. I washed it recently and the red bled onto one of the white fabrics. (there are 6 different whites) I got help from on this board. I rewashed it with ox-clean and it came out fine.

I understand that the 5 inches is measured from the tip of the "pinking". When I match it up with my blocks that I have cut (exactly 5 inches square) I am losing the fabric between each tip. When I'm sewing my (not always exact) 1/4 inch seam it's easy to have a seam that doesn't hold. I don't know if I am explaining this correctly. Anyway....no more pinked charms. I have some in my stash and will use them when I need 4 1/2 in squares.

That is a good idea! Should have thought of that too.

I wash pre-cuts and yardage before I use any of it. I don't like the chemicals in fabric. It stinks. I find bleeders easy too.

I feel the same but I have given in to the temptation a few times. I liked the collection of fabrics in the set that I knew I couldn't get from my poorly planned stash. Just can't believe the choices I made way back when.

It finally happened! An LQS employee told me about a finished quilt they had made for the store where the red backing fabric bled badly. Before this honest discussion, my experience has always been that LQS people tell me that "high quality quilting fabric will not bleed" and that there is no need to pre-wash (at least not the fabric purchased from their store).

I appreciated the honesty and the fact that this store does carry Retayne!

All I can say is, Never say Never. Just when I think I will not buy another pre-cut, there is some pattern out there that makes me re-think my decision. I prefer to make my own too, primarily because of the pinked edges.

I never understood the idea of precuts. I am sure they are okay for some projects. The cost alone is not as cheap as yardage and then never being sure of what is in those packages both in quality and accuracy of the cuts. They can't be washed 'cause they shrink and you loose the width. Just not worth the aggravation for me, imho.

So sorry this happened after all your hard work.
peace

I've both pre washed and not washed. If I started a quilt pre washed, I finish pre washing. As far as precuts, I understand it's best not to prewash with the pinked edges. I believe in the color catches as mean mom mentioned. It seems it's all a matter of personal preference.

The whole idea of pinking is to reduce the amount of fray. Well, that's the theory anyway. I have had severe problems with fraying, not to mention the horrific amount of fuzz and lint when trying to use those pinked precuts. They sure do gunk-up the machine and my ironing board is a mess. I don't buy precuts anymore.

I generally do not get precuts. There is just too much fabric on the bolts in shops that I love.

I love red but always shy away from it because of the bleeding. A shame b/c it's one of my favorite colors.
I haven't had problems with pre-cuts--- yet. One reason I like to buy them is to get the assortment without
getting yardage of some that I may not want much of.
But I agree that the cost compared to yardage is quite high.
I watch a lot of Jenny Doan's videos and that's about all she seems to use!