so many interesting ways ...I too used the delicate cycle, and take them out before just about dry. Works for me, sometimes I still have the threads but not as many!

If you haven't tried the newer threads then how can you know if they aren't better? I always try the new and then decide before dismissing it just because of the price.

I never prewash anything and there are millions of us who don't. It doesn't matter how much you pay for fabric or how big the pieces are, some of it will tangle and ravel if you prewash it. This is a perennial discussion on this board--I'm in the don't wash it crowd. froggyintexas

I use a lot of Coats & Clark. I also use a lot of Mettler. Both are holding up, just fine. Both allow me to sew a 1/4" seam and have matching points, etc. (when I'm careful LOL). I prefer the Mettler, as it seems to create less lint . . . HOWEVER, I already have lots of C&C, which I intend to use. Also, the C&C is easier to find, locally (the closest LQS isn't local. Then there's the price factor. For some people, especially those on a fixed income, price IS a very important factor. "Let's see . . . do I pay twice as much for the thread . . . or do I clean out the lint, an extra time or two . . . and use that money, to buy extra fabric?"

I honestly don't understand all the snobbery, about thread. What works for one, may not work for another. So what? WHY does anyone care, what someone else uses? WHY the need, to call someone else's choice, "crap"? If you don't like the thread/fabric/machine/whatever someone else uses, just don't swap blocks with that person. No need to insult anyone, because he/she chooses differently. Okay, standing on this soapbox is making my head hurt, so I'm getting down, now.

I very seldom prewash...following this rule...prewash everything or nothing. I can't say I have had much of a problem going with that rule...been quilting for a few decades so it seems to work.

Sorry but your price argument isn't supported by the math. If you buy Coats and Clark at the regular price at Jo-Ann's you're paying almost a penny a yard. If you buy Aurifil at Discount Embroidery Supply at their regular price you're paying slightly over a half cent a yard. Better quality for about half the price. I'll take Aurifil any day.

Not everyone shops at Jo-Ann's or Discount Embroidery Supply, so your own "price argument" is moot. As reference, I was using the price of WalMart C&C and my LQS's price of the Mettler thread, I've bought (for similar amount). No one is saying C&C is better, only that it's decent thread. A person's choice is just that - a CHOICE. I'm sure Aurifil is a fine thread, and the right choice, for you. However, why not allow others to be happy with their choices? Why the need to degrade someone else's CHOICE? Regardless of the reason someone chooses one thread over another, it's really no one else's business . . . unless that choice directly affects something another is sewing.

I'm now going to go sew on my latest quilt top . . . and will probably use BOTH Mettler AND C&C thread, just for the heck of it! I've been using black Metrosene Plus but now my bobbin is empty. Oh, the possibilities!!! :D

I stitch a narrow hem on the cut ends of all my fabric before washing. Later, when I'm using my scraps, I sometimes pick out the hem to get that extra 1/4 inch of fabric, otherwise I don't. I just cut the hem off and use it to tie newspapers, etc. Otherwise I would be wasting that amount of fabric by cutting off the fray.

I was just trying to show you that it's possible to pay less for better quality thread. But you don't seem to want to entertain the possibility that C&C might not be the most for your money.

And don't yell.

I don't prewash unless the fabric is red, navy blue, or black. I haven't had any problems with shrinkage.

I stated why some people may prefer C&C, over the other brands. . . and I defended a person's right to choose whichever thread, he/she wants to use, without backlash. BTW, not everyone is comfortable, ordering online. Anyway, it's thread, for pity's sake!!!

I chose to write CHOICE, in all caps, because sometimes people fail to see the word, "CHOICE."

That said, I have no problem ordering online, so am going to check out the site, you mentioned. I probably have at least a hundred spools of C&C, from years of sewing, and intend to keep using them. However, I do enjoy less lint-duty . . . and would also like to try one of the finer threads, to make my bobbin last longer. :thumbup:

I washed my fabrics only once and I ended up with a very tangled mess. After that I just wash the quilts when I am done. No mess, no problems.

A long time ago when I watched Simply Quilts and quilting shows such as that, someone suggested sewing the two cut ends of the fabric together (as the piece would be circular). Then when the piece was dried, rip or cut off the seam.

I don't think anyone wants their choices denigrated - most people are doing the best they can with what they have.

It's interesting to know about other products and techniques that are available - and then be able to decide whether one wants to try them or not.

For large pieces of fabric if you fold it like an accordion from selvage to selvage and pin it through all layers on both ends with large safety pins it will not tangle. THIS WORKS!!!

The rotary cutters are in any fabric store with notions.
Also,in some of the kits the pieces are so small that after you wash them there won't be enough left to make your quilt

What did you do? Wash it for 14 minutes? LOL A minute or two is all that is necessary. It just has to get wet.

Good for you!

I use old thread or bobbin thread to zig-zag the raw edges before washing my fabric. This way I can use up the thread with out wasting any. I have to wash my fabric as I have severe allergies to the chemicals in fabric.

I also do this when I don't serge - I do try to use a same color or lighter thread than the fabric,though. (I'm thinking this is probably not necessary - but I do it, anyway)

Snip about 1/2 inch off each corner wash on gentle and you will have just a small amount of fraying.

It's also my "go-to" thread for piecing. I was told by a quilt shop owner that for quilting on my long-arm, I should use something different because of the lint factor. He said that C&C has changed recently and his customers had started complaining. He's steering them now toward Superior Threads for this reason and said that the head of Superior used to be with C&C. Not sure how much of that info is correct, but it's what I've heard.

As for pre-washing, I always pre-wash my fabrics after seeing a quilt ruined because the dyes ran once it was washed.