I prewash everything before using it, that's the way my mom taught me. Also I was told that if you use pinking shears on the ends of material before washing they won't ravel as much. I haven't tried this yet, but would be interested in knowing if it works. I don't have any material that needs washed at this time or I'd try it myself.

I use my serger on the edges to prevent all of the threads in the washer & dryer and yes, I do wash and dry and iron my fabric. Don't want to take any chances on bleeding or more shrinkage in one fabric than another. It's a carryover from my days of sewing garments.
Gerry

i wash everything in the hottest water it can stand. even hotter. than i dry in the hottest. let it shrink now. do you think it would work with humans, too?

I always wash first & if it's a dark color I throw in a color catcher sheet to pick up the extra color. It really helps a lot.

That would be nice. :lol:

I pre-wash. Also a habit carried over from when I used to sew clothing. I've had two identical sized pieces of fabric from the same collection shrink at different rates- one actually shrunk almost an inch more than the other one.

But if you do the "bleed test", and if you don't care that it might shrink up some, then do whatever you want. Sometimes if it's heavily quilted you might not notice much shrinkage.

Wow, thanks for all the input.

Wow, thanks for all the input

I too like that look. The table runners I washed came out looking like that. I like the cotton batting. It makes everything look more "quilty"

I never wash quilt shop fabric, even flannel

UNLESS there is red or a dark blue or black. But I will wash all the fabric for the quilt so they shrink (or dont shrink) the same when quilt is done. And remember to keep lights and darks separated.

and I run a straight stitch around the edge of the fabric to help with fraying before washing.

I like my quilts with a little dimension, not all flat and well, flat. There is nothing wrong with flat, everyone has their own taste. So the minimal shrinking that occurs is just right for me and everyone i have made a quilt for loves it too.

I NEVER wash...If I did I would never get any quilting done. Plus I like the stiffness of the sizing and the puckered look after washing.
My best story is a quilt I made a few years back. It was a signature quilt with white white for the sig block and 25 different reds some of which "bled" on my hands while sewing. I am a tried and true fan of Shout® Color Catcher®. I usually throw a few in with any quilt...they work like a charm...and on my red project there was NO pink on my white!