Are fat quarters and other pre-cuts pre-washed? If not, dont they ravell when washed before using?

commercial vendors sell them unwashed, just as they do yardage.

and, just like yardage, they may fray or shrink when washed.

some quilters prewash by hand. i chuck fat quarters into the washer and dryer.

i don't prewash strips or charms. i would feel obligated to do it by hand and i'm just plain toooooo lazy for that. :lol:

If they are going into a piece that will be washed several times over it's lifetime, washing is a good idea. I just put the smaller pieces, FQs and F8s into a lingerie bag and throw them into a perm press load. There is less thread mess this way.

I had a lot of fat quarters and had read somewhere that they should be washed before using...so I did. What a mess!!!! They were all tangled together and I had a heck of a time separating them, not to mention they had to be ironed and trimmed. I'll never do that again :) I guess that's just another quilting lesson learned...LOL

I just read somewhere that if you just pour hot water over it and wring it into a towel that is enough to shrink it. I haven't tried it, but it sounds easy enough.

I usually put them into a hand wash cycle, then into the dryer and deal with all the strings while I am pressing them. But, I might try this now that I am caught up with all the fabric washed in my stash now.

I don't prewash unless I suspect a fabric might bleed, in which case I test it for bleeding first. Prewashing isn't necessary if, like me, you aren't allergic to the chemicals in the fabric, you like the old-fashionied crinkled look of a quilt, and your quilting lines are close together.

Quilting stabilizes fabrics and limits how much it shrinks. Harriet Hargrave showed us a quilt she made to prove this point. She used un-prewashed *flannel* (!) to make a quilt, machine-quilted it, then washed and dried it in machines. Aside from showing it to us (looked fabulous), she measured it before and after washing; because her machine quilting had stabilizes the fabric, it was virtually the same dimensions before and after washing.

I personally still pre-wash flannel, but that demo caused me to stop prewashing my other fabrics. Has saved me a ton of time!

I soak the pieces then lay them on a towel and roll the towel up to partially dry. Then I finish it up with the iron. Works like a charm.

That said, I generally only prewash if it's for a swap or if the colors are intense and I don't trust them not to run.

Of course, if I start to wash ANY part of a project, I am a firm believer in consistency and I wash all of the fabric for that project.

I don't wash mine. They just fray too much.

What Patrice said.

I machine wash mine on the gentle cycle, they dont seem to get tangled as much!

the reasons for pre-washing are mainly...
1. to wash the sizing out of the fabric (so fusables will adhere, and just to get rid of it)
2. pre-shrink...to make sure the fabric will not shrink after made into your project
and
3. to ensure colors are stable. so nothing bleeds in your finished project.
some people pre-wash everything. some people prewash nothing. some people pick and choose what needs to be prewashed.
if you are washing precuts using one of the zippered net laundry bags made for delicates can cut down on the mess, helps keep everything from tangling together and excessive fraying. and you can throw them right in the dryer. and if you are washing because of the shrinkage issue and the item will be washed as a finished item (like a bed quilt) you should throw the fabric in the dryer now too. it is going to do its 'best-shrinking' in the dryer.
all cotton fabrics will have to be ironed/pressed after prewashing, no way around it, you wash out the sizing which keeps it 'crisp/pressed' off the bolt. so if you have a lot of new fabrics to wash make an afternoon of it, set your ironing board up at a height you can sit on the couch in front of, put in a favorite old movie and sit and iron stacks of fat quarters, strips yards of fabric. you may just find it can be very theraputic and you really start getting a real (feel) for your fabrics.

Thanks all of you for the answers to my question. You are great gals....