Prewash fabric or not?
 

Hiya All, I am working on a tee shirt quilt, mosaic style. I am going to start adding in small squares to fill the gaps on the top layer. I'm using the same fabric that I am for the backing. Do I need to prewash the fabric? I am planning on doing a combo quilting [sitch in the ditch] + tying. My batting says 10". I have a few squares larger than 10 inches but I don't want to quilt through the patterns [Harley Davidson] of the shirts. I think I bought Calypso brand fabric, so probably 100% cotton. Thanks.

I don't prewash my fabric. However, I know that is a hot topic. Many people feel strongly about whether it should be prewashed or not. Go with what you feel like doing.

There are probably a thousand threads on this...if you do a search using the search feature above.

I don't prewash either, and I agree with "go with what you feel like doing."

I do pre-wash because I'm afraid of inconsistent shrinkage if I use different fabric lines in one piece. Plus, I don't like the crinkled look that a quilt gets when washing a previously unwashed quilt for the first time. And because no matter how many times I tell DH to wash an item with cold, the item always ends up in warm water. :)

I pre wash. I want to know if the fabric is going to bleed and how much it is going to shrink. Than starch it like crazy after it is wash.

since you are using t-shirts that have probably been washed a number of times it would be a good idea to pre-wash (unless the t-shirts are new)
also kind of depends on what type of stablizer you used on the t=shirts? if you used a lightweight tricot fusable stablizer (the recommended stablizer for t=shirt quilts) and the t-shirts are worn/been washed numerous times- it would be a good idea to pre-wash the cotton fabrics so they do not shrink up and cause alot of puckering in your finished quilt

I am not a risk taker. Therefore, I pre-wash all fabrics that look the least bit risky (which is almost all of them).
Dayle

I really like the puckered look that results from un-washed fabric, but I have had them bleed in the past....so I tend to pre-wash.

I don't normally prewash my fabric, but when you are doing the sashing for a Tshirt quilt, I recommend doing so. Because large portions of this quilt have stabilizer in it, shrinkage can negatively affect your result. When the batting says 10 inches, you need to do that 10 inches (or less). Otherwise, your quilt batting will not be sufficiently stabilized. This can result in very ugly bunching over time.