It SHRANK!!!!
 

I am making a quilt for my son-in-law which has shades of dark blue for half and ivory for the other half. I washed the jewel blue backing and it bled a lot. The quilt top is made of Layer Cakes so I experimented by putting two of the 10" dark blue into the washing machine along with the backing.
When I took them out of the dryer, I compared them to ones I had not washed. They shrank to 9" blocks. Now I do not know what to do. If I do not wash to cakes, the quilt will definitely shrink when laundered and be puckered. If I do wash the cakes, the pattern measurements will be off.
What should I do?

I wouldn't prewash. As I've mentioned before, fabrics on their own can shrink a *lot* when washed. However, once in a quilt that has moderate quilting, the quilting binds the fabrics to the batting and the batting becomes the controlling factor in shrinkage. In other words, after moderate quilting, the fabric shrinkage is limited by how much the batting shrinks.

Shrinkage can be a problem if the quilt is tied instead of quilted, or if the quilting lines are far apart (for example, the 10" maximum allowed by Warm and Natural). In these cases there is not enough quilting for the batting to control fabric shrinkage. With a normal amount of quilting, though, fabric shrinkage becomes a non-issue.

Since you've washed two of the 10" squares, I think you should wash the rest before sewing the quilt top. Otherwise the uneven dimensions will drive you crazy when you try to sew the pieces together.

Depending on how (un)evenly the other squares shrink, you might want to square them up to common dimensions before you begin sewing. I know this will be a pain-in-the-neck, but it will prevent much more serious and harder-to-correct problems later on.

Next time, you might do as Prism99 recommends: Don't prewash. Just post-wash once all the quilting is done (and the binding is attached).

But if you don't wash you will have the problem of the dark blue bleeding? (If it's the same fabric as the backing, possibly even if it's not?) It sounds like you will need to try to eliminate the bleeding without shrinking, which means not putting in the dryer or using hot water. Can you experiment with just soaking in cold water and see if you can control the bleeding that way? You certainly don't want the dark blue to continue bleeding on the white.

I agree with Prism99. I have made quilts with pre-cuts, which I never wash, and a backing which has been prewashed, and I have no issues with the finished product shrinking awkwardly. I do free motion quilt, and I would say that my quilting is moderate to heavy, which stabilizes the entire thing and limits the shrinkage.

For bleeding, I recommend washing the finished quilt in the largest front-loader at your local laundromat, using Synthrapol as your detergent. You want a machine that uses as much water as possible so that any dye bleed becomes highly diluted. You also want a detergent, such as Synthrapol, that suspends dye particles in the water so they don't settle into other fabrics.

You mentioned washing the blue fabric with the background fabric. Did the background fabric absorb any of the blue dye bleed? Some fabrics are resistant to dye bleeds and not affected by them.

Agree also w/prissm99. I have been surprised when I previously used relatively cheap cotton fabric and got very little shrinkage because it was moderately well quilted. I would not prewash but use some Shout Color Catcher on first wash after quilt completed. Cold wash gentle .

Okay here is another factor to consider--your batting. Warm and Natural will shrink about 4%. Poly batting will not shrink. Hobbs 80/20 will also shrink about 4%.

I always wet my fabrics with as hot a water as my hands can stand and dry in a hot dryer--to check for excessive colour bleeding and minimize shrinkage. But also because I do not care for the sizing that is in the fabric. It tends to inhibit my ability to breathe--which I think is sort of necessary for the whole continuance of life thing.

It depends on the look that you want your final laundered product to have--totally flat with no 'crinkling' or some to moderate 'crinkling'. The amount can be controlled by the denseness of the quilting and/or the choice of batting.

what is the brand/ line of fabric that is shrinking so much?

Everything I have read is NOT to wash any precut fabric.

"It tends to inhibit my ability to breathe--which I think is sort of necessary for the whole continuance of life thing" ....

Ginger, that cracked me up!.... I have COPD and other lung problems, but unwashed fabric doesn't bother me.

To the OP, hope you find a solution.

I went through a period of time that I pre-washed everything. Then, I decided, after reading many articles and opinions, I decided not to pre-wash any more fabric. Therefore, I have wound up mixing fabrics that are washed and not washed. And, I have encountered absolutely no problems. I quilt my projects moderately and I wash them when I finish them. I always use Shout sheets and they do indeed pick up color many times but no dye transfer on the fabrics of the quilt. There is shrinkage-mostly because of the batting- and I like that crinkly look. I might add that I use high quality fabric with a high thread count and tightly twisted yarns.

If you need to use those 2 squares that shrank up, I would recommend washing everything. Otherwise, it's up to you how you want your finished quilt to be used/laundered. Personally, I'm like Ginger & will pre-wash absolutely everything (yes! even pre-cuts). I've never had a pre-cut shrink by a whole inch. I wash in cold with Tide Free & dry on low heat, which is what I recommend as washing instructions to my recipients.

If the 9" will really throw you off, I'd just go ahead & piece/quilt the thing & worry about the bleeding/shrinkage later. I've had to work with blocks that were 1/8" off due to my cutting errors & having to constantly adjust my measurements across the entire quilt was a bit of a pain, so I get why you would not want to work with an odd numbered block. Your fabric will shrink up some in the quilting process & will shrink again when it's washed/dried. As long as you're okay with that & calculate for some shrinkage in the end (probably not 2"/block, but maybe as much as 1"/block), just have some Shout Color Catchers on hand for the washing process & know that the worst case scenario if the Color Catchers aren't strong enough, you may need to re-wash with Synthropol.

Good luck!

I know you can eat a cake so what do you mean about washing a cake that's impossible.

COPD and allergies are different lung situations. I also pre-wash all fabric because of the odor of the fabric and my experience having seen individuals go into stores and wipe their perspiration from their brows using the fabric on the bolt. I rarely buy pre-cuts because for one thing they are not all cut equal all the time. I don't want to have to deal with the other items like Synthrapol nd the like after all the work put into a quilt and see a mess of bleed all over. Some odors and perfumes can trigger an instant migraine for me. Everybody is different and their situations are nothing to laugh at.

For quilts made with unwashed fabric, here's what I do.

I use as much water as possible, use extra color-catchers, and I DON'T let the wet quilt sit in the washer after it spins out. Wet fabric touching other wet fabric can make color transfer that wouldn't bleed otherwise.

I check the quilt carefully (or just wash it again) before I dry it, to make sure I'm not heat-setting anything that DID bleed. I've had minor bleeding happen that made a pale yellow look "dingy" but it washed out on a second washing.

So far, that has all worked out for me. I pre-wash all my yardage, but not my pre cuts.

A "layer cake" is a Moda term for 10 inch squares usually I think 42 in a pack of different fabric from the same collection. A charm pack is similar but with 5 inch squares. Saves having to buy yardage of each to trim.

Regarding the breathing issue, I recently attended some workshops given by Jamie Wallen. He noticed a few years back that there seemed to be a lot more dust in the air when he ripped fabric for quilt backings. He contacted fabric manufacturers to ask about this and found out that the expected shelf life of fabric has risen in recent years from an average of 3 months (before the market collapse) to 3 years currently. Because the fabric needs to stay looking good for a much longer period of time now, manufacturers are now treating the fabric with 3 to 10 times the amounts of chemicals and binders as they used to. Jamie still does not prewash fabric he uses in his quilts, but he now requires everyone who works with him to wear a face mask when ripping fabric.

You might tell the recipient to wash the quilt in cool water also in order to make sure that it doesn't bleed any more.

Ladies, I strongly recommend that anyone washing a quilt, use Colorcatchers (more than 1). If you have a fabric you KNOW is going to bleed, i.e., a red, vibrant colors such as orange, maroon, deep blues, etc. I process my fabric in Ritz Dye Setter, which I had to order online. I used my large stew pot and kept the temperature at simmer temperature. YES, you must use HOT WATER. I ordered this off the Ritz Dye Company website, and I had a quilt with a lot of whole cloth white and a very vibrant red as a border, and as ruffles for the Pillow Shams I made to go with the quilt. I don't have any ownership interest in Ritz Dye, but it's a product that I KNOW WORKS! THAT BEING SAID, even so, I would still use Colorcatchers when laundering a quilt. ONCE I'VE COMPLETED THE DYE-SETTING PROCEDURE, DO NOT launder in HOT WATER.

Jeanette