A question - Measuring before and after
 

How many of you actually measure your

Fabrics before and after washing them (if you are in the wash before cutting group)?

Your quilts before and after they are quilted?

Your quilts before and after they are washed?


I have heard that heavy quilting can "take up" several inches from the unquilted size.

There was just a post today about a quilt that shrank five inches after being washed.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...s-t247055.html

When figuring on a "finished" size - after quilting and washing - do you make it bigger and expect to "lose" a couple of inches in the quilting and washing processes?

I am not one of those who throws the quilt into the washing machine as soon as it is finished being quilting. I haven't read the post but I measure each of my blocks as I am making them. If you are not careful with piecing, you probably could loose some inches. There is some shrinkage with quilting. With applique, I always add some extra inches and then trim the block after I have finished. Never took the time to measure a quilt after it had been quilted. sorry.....

The only time I measure anything to do with a quilt is when I need to make sure the units...blocks, sashings, borders, batting, backing, binding, etc...fit together accurately during construction.

I measure the blocks to make sure they fit together. I measure the quilt top so I know how long to make the borders. Once the borders are on I measure the entire top so I know how big to make the backing and batting. Other than that I don't care what the measurements are.

I agree with ghostrider, there comes a time when it is what it is, and measuring one more time isn't going to make a difference.

My mother always prewashed everything, so that was my thought when I started to quilt. Then I joined this board and read about lots of folks who never prewashed, so I decided to measure before & after to see if pre-washing made a difference. The first couple of times nothing seemed to change. A yard in the wash, a yard out of the dryer. I was just thinking about abandoning my prewashing, when I decided to also measure the WOF. I was amazed. There was very little to no shrinkage along the length, but ALWAYS across the width. Sometimes more than 2". (Except batiks... and they bleed.)
As far as before & after quilting I don't make anything a specific size, so I've never paid attention.

I'm with you, exactly the measurements I do.

Same here. If I measure it again it is because I have to fill out a form for a show.

This is what I do too!!

I do like citruscountyquilter, except that I also measure when the quilting is finished (so I know how much binding to make) and after the quilt is bound and washed. The reason for the final measurement is so I can fill out the quilt size for my journal of completed quilts, so I know the size if entering a show, so I can mention the size if I post about the quilt here, and so I know how big it is if I'm looking for a quilt to gift someone. I can't say that I have actually compared the size before and after washing, but I haven't noticed a lot of shrinkage, probably because I prewash my fabrics, I quilt fairly densely, and I often use poly batting (though not always).