I'm sorry, I didn't finish. I was actually folding up tons of new fabric I had just gotten-just came out of the dryer. Last night I was working on my boys John Deere rag/embellissed quilts (which by the way if I see that fabric any more I'm going to puke). Went and got the red fabric I needed for the tractor, I was all ready to fuse on the tractor in the middle, had everything cut out ready to go, and darn it :shock: I had forgot to pre wash the new fabric. I had to stop. Not just b/c the fabric was red but Heat Bond requires your fabric to be washed first :evil:
Any Who... Go to the grocery store in the detergant isle and buy 'SHOUT' color catcher sheets. They are AWESOME. I just washed (in cold water) easter colors(pastels) with some more new red and actually 2 black fat Q's and like magic sure enough that fabric sheet caught all the colors that run.
I have 4 kids 5 and under it's hard enough to quilt without interferance, I can't worry about colors bleeding in the wash. I will not let my husband do the wash, he ruins everything; I'm obsessed with laundry and my children cannot leave the house without looking imacculate. SAME FOR MY QUILTS :!:

Most of my fabric I don't pre wash and I don't have problems...........I only pre wash those that look like they would bleed..I would never use hot water on fine washables like quilts, also fabric does fade.

I do not prewash. Cutting and piecing is so much easier with all those chemicals still there. I do wash my quilts when they are completed with a Shout color catcher and never had a problem. I have quilting buddies that just freak out that I do not prewash.

I do not prewash. Cutting and piecing is so much easier with all those chemicals still there. Washing and spraying with startch or sizing is just putting chemicals back in. Silver fish love startch. I do wash all my quilts when they are completed with a Shout color catcher and never had a problem. I have quilting buddies that just freak out that I do not prewash.
I get to come home from a day of quilt shop hopping and start making my new quilt!

I always prewash even my fat quaters just clip the corners.

I don't prewash either, unless its red or black. Never had a problem so far :!: Its eaiser for me to work with fabric that is not pre washed.

Does clipping the corners of the fat quarters stop them from raveling? I have prewashed some before and they did ravel quite a bit. And I never thought of running a large zigzag stitch around them! Thanks for that tip, Moonpi! :wink:

You need to decide if the risks outweigh the benefit of saving a few hours by not washing your fabrics. Me, I am unwilling to work with fabrics that have not been prewashed; not only because I'm allergic to all the chemicals and stuff that they put into the fabric but because I've seen how the fabrics are stretched while at the factory. The last thing I want is to wash a quilt I've spent hundreds of hours on and find that either the dye has run or the quilt has shrunk up in some areas. Now if I'm looking for an antique look that works but usually I don't go for the drawn up, puckered look that you see so often in older quilts.

I have friends that don't prewash and we did a little test. We bought 2 yards of the same fabric, making sure they were cut exactly identical. We washed one of them and it was amazing how different they were in size. Now most of my friends also prewash their fabric. You'll notice I said most. :wink:

I always either cut the corners off my fabric (making a small 45 degree angle to snip off the very corner) or I use pinking shears (rotary cutting blade) to slice off the very edge of the fabric. This will keep the fabric from fraying so much in the washer.

Really it just comes down to what you are willing to live with. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and I feel as if I get a better product (quilt) by prewashing my fabrics. Others will swear it makes no difference and they don't bother to pre-wash. The only thing you need to keep in mind if you don't pre-wash is that there may be people out there that are allergic to the chemicals and you'll need to be careful if you trade fabric with that person or you work on a project with them. Other than that, no worries!
~Tiffany

I'm a prewasher.
Jo

Never pre-wash, use cotton batting, wash and dry after quilt is done. I do like the puckery look though.