It Shrunk 5 inches
 

how do you avoid a new quilt from shrinking? i made a quilt for a friend using Baltic pre cuts, I pre washed all the other material like backing and borders and such but most of the quilt was made with pre-cuts. after i sewed it all, quilted and then washed it and dried it, it shrunk about 5 inches. i was VERY surprised at how much it shrunk.i had made it to fit a double bed 72X90 Did i do something Wrong?, should i have expected that and made it larger to accommodate for the shrinkage? any HELP for my future quilts is much appreciated

Thanks Patti

I assume you mean Batik. i searched and didn't find anything on that much shrinkage. Did you use hot water by any chance? and what batting?

yes i meant Batik, i used quilters dream Wool and it was washed in Cold.

The only time I have had anything shrink was when I did not pre wash. That is one reason why I always wash everything before I use it.

i'm with you, crafty pat

The biggest source of shrinkage in most quilts is from cotton batting. I don't use precuts and I do prewash all my fabric so I have a pretty good idea that all the shrinkage in my quilts is due to the batting. If you don't want any shrinkage polyester batting is probably your best bet. I always make my quilts oversize so they still fit the bed.

I have never prewashed any of my fabric and have had no problems. I use mostly precuts.

Batting can shrink a whole lot. Hobbs claims that their 100% cotton batting can be pre-shrunk. Just follow the directions on the bag.

I always pre-shrink Hobbs 80/20 and recently pre-shrunk a Hobbs wool batt. I pre-shrink all brands of 100% cotton batting. I shrink my fabrics too. After all of the work that I put in making the quilt, I don't want any surprises.

ditto .... washing and drying causes shrinkage, not just or the fabrics, but also your batting.

patti p - that would have been heartbreaking! I don't have an answer, but I don't prewash my precuts either. I think if I were going to use precuts and yardage.. I would probably not prewash any of it. That may sound shocking, the thought was shocking to me too... until I did Quilts for Kids kit ... and I didn't prewash anything

I have made maybe a dozen quilts in the last 2 years ( that is when i started quilting) and have not had any issues with shrinkage of the sort... so i am going to send the quilt top to my friend and explain what happened hopefully she will be agreeable to take it as is. (a little smaller than i would have liked) it will not drape over as much.

It is the batting that controls shrinkage of a finished quilt. If you don't want any shrinkage, use a polyester batting (polyester does not shrink) or prewash a cotton batting (you need to be sure the cotton batting is capable of being prewashed without falling apart; not all cotton battings can be prewashed).

Check the batting package or Google the manufacturer of the batting to find the one you used. Typically the manufacturer specifies that a cotton batting is expected to shrink 3 to 5%. This happens the first time you wash/dry the batting.

Assuming the quilt has moderate quilting on it (lines 3 or 4" apart), all of the shrinking in a finished quilt will be due to the batting. Whether the fabric is prewashed or not makes no difference with moderate quilting, as batting will not allow fabric to shrink more than the batting shrinks.

Fabrics washed on their own shrink at their own rate. They do not shrink in the same way once they have been quilted to batting. This is why prewashing fabric has little to nothing to do with how much a quilt shrinks.

If you pay attention to the shrinkage rate for the batting you are using, you can plan in advance how big to make the quilt top so that the finished quilt fits the bed. For example, say you want a size after washing of 90" square and the batting specifies shrinkage of 3-5%. 90" x .05 = 4.5". You will want to make the top at least 95" square to be sure it will be at least 90" square after washing. It's also a good idea to add an inch or two in each direction to account for quilting take-up; more for larger quilts, less for smaller quilts.

I am also wondering if your measurement was before you quilted it. Quilting also makes a top shrink up some.

I very seldom wash a quilt and I certainly would not put it in the dryer. Old school, let it dry out of the sun. There could be shrinkage because of not pre-washing, also you blocks could be smaller with the seam allowance you stitch. If you are off a 1/16" that can quickly add up. And yes, cotton batting will shrink in a warm or hot dryer.

Did you measure the quilt size after it was quilted and again after washing the quilted quilt? I have found that the tighter the quilting the smaller the quilt. Also the thread used in the quilting can draw up to shrink it some. I always figure the quilt will be smaller than when started and build extra size into borders and binding area just to make sure it will be bigger than the projected finished size.

Usually 72x90 is a twin size. Queen mattress is 60x80. If you made a 72x90 it would not fit a queen mattress properly - there would be very little overhang!

I don't measure before/after, but often my quilts come out slightly different than the pattern size. I've never made one that HAD to be a particular size, so if it's bigger/smaller that has been fine with me. I do get some shrinkage, but not sure how much since I don't measure before/after.

Thank you Prism99 this helps ALOT for future projects, to help me not make the same mistake.i guess i never really thought about the shrinkage rate on my own i just made them and used them.

I prewash precuts in lingerie bags in hot water and a hot dryer. i just pre-wash everything. All my fabric. Polyesters and synthetics also get pre-washed. I have probably 12 lingerie bags and I use them alot. I use no fabric softener and my washer has different number of spins.

this is the site that i got my sizes from to base the size of a DOUBLE quilt http://www.fgqg.com/Quiltsizes.htm
no i did not measure after i quilted it. it was only lite to moderate quilting.

Quilters dream claims that their wool batting doesn't shrink if washed in cold water. If the dryer was hot, that might cause shrinking. But I also suspect that the quilting caused some of the shrinkage. Different sites suggest different sizes for quilts, and it's probably best to come up with your own size based on how much overhang you want. Here's another site that I've used - http://equilters.com/library/quilt_i...bed_sizes.html

There is a good discussion on this in a thread from a couple of years ago -
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...g-t175484.html

When making a quilt for a specific bed you really need to get the measurements from that bed. I have a double and have added a topper and a fiber bed, making the matress thicker. Depending on the drape, I would need a quilt bigger than the one called for in that chart.

I agree. Is it a regular mattress or a pillowtop, which can add 3-5 inches to the height? How far down do you want the quilt to hang? I like mine to hang pretty far, but my friend likes it to go just to the edge of the box spring. Lots of room for variables like these.

I struggle terribly with proper quilt sizes. There should be some kind of standard drop! However, as others have mentioned, dimensions of a queen mattress is 60 x 80 so at best, 72 x 90 would only give you a 5-6" drop on either side, and most mattresses are deeper than that.

I've never had too much shrinkage though I prewash everything I quilt. Maybe you could somehow add a border if she is unhappy?

She was making it for a double size mattress, not a queen. A double mattress measures 54x75.

batiks are washed, did you measure before washing?

I am so sorry that is shank that much, but for me I always make my full size no less than 84 inches x 90 inches that way you still have room for shrinkage. I make my baby quilts also larger size than most people. no less than 1 1/2 yards long and the width of the fabric.

I like Hobbs 100% cotton and their 80/20 but I tend to use their 80/20 because it doesn't shrink as much. I just made a quilt for my neice for her graduation and it was a large quilt. It shrank 8" in length with the Hobbs 80/20 batting. I am scared to try to pre-shrink the batting as I think it will fall apart. Exactly how do you pre-shrink your Hobbs batting? Do you only pre-shrink the Hobbs 80/20 or have you also tried to pre-shrink the Hobbs 100% cotton? I will be interested to hear exactly how ou do this.

I agree i think that the batting would fall apart if you pre -shrink it. i feel for any future quilts i make that a person wants a certain size i will make sure to make it a little larger to allow for shrinkage. i am sending the quilt to her as is. and dropped my price in hopes she will understand.

Ditto! I always pre-wash everything except the batting, and use only cold water. Dryer on a low setting.

I totally agree with everything Emma S says. And it's exactly what I do, as well.

I used Wool batting just once, boy did it shrink which is why I only used it once!

The batting is going to "puff up", even if it's just a little - even if you pre-wash the fabric and batting - when you wash the finished quilt. That, plus the fact that when you quilted it, it probably shrank a bit. The thread is going to draw up with the "puff". The more quilting, the more it will draw up, from what I've experienced. If you're making it to exact dimensions, it's best to make it a few inches than what you want, just to make sure it will still fit after quilting and washing. Better a bit big than too small! I always try to remember that when I would buy a bedspread, the dimensions changed after I washed it, because it wasn't pre-washed when I bought it.

I agree with Auntie V (reply#16) and Cindi in the above reply. The amount of quilting that goes into the top does influence the degree of shrinking. I tried an experiment...prewashed the fabrics and even the batting before making the top. Measured it. Quilted it. Measured it again and it did show shrinkage after the quilting. Then I washed it and found the shrinkage was minimal after that. The bigger the quilt is, the more noticeable the shrinkage will be. I often make the project a bit larger and it works well. Or instead of making a bigger project, I use borders wider than what the pattern calls for.

Anything under 1 yard I do not wash. Precuts I do not wash. I have never had a problem with shrinkage - (I am including batiks in that also). I wash the backing, the sashing, the border and if I buy fat quarters or precuts, I just re-iron them and sew it altogether. Maybe that's it - I steam them flat and maybe that is when they shrink a little.

And, I do not know what I am doing right!!!!!!!!! I hear so much of the shrinkage and have never had a problem. Could it possibly the company you buy the fabric from? My mom never had a problem either - actually everything I know about quilting I learned from her. She was always worried that if she did wash the smaller pieces they would fray and then she would lose the size she needed.
Edie

I make my quilts a bit bigger than I need to allow for shrinkage. I can't use a polyester batting in my quilts. Dh and I get too hot, only use cotton batting. My quilts get washed and dried, if I put them outside to dry the dogs and the birds would ruin them.
Sharon

PattiP,
This only works with a top loading washer, not the front loader.
You don't actually wash it, you fill up the washer with cold water and don't let the machine agitate.
Push the batting up and down with your hands for about 5 minutes, then let the washer spin the water out and put it in the dryer for about 15 minutes.

I have not had a major issue with shrinkage, but I have not completed a bed sized quilt as yet. I have three tops, but not one of them is finished. I make mostly lap quilts and wall hangings. Five inches is a lot. I hope it still looks okay.