I wash them. I love that freshly laundered smell and look, especially for a gift.

I always wash before gifting to make sure no seams come apart, no color running and also because I glue baste to get the glue out.

I always wash first for several reasons. Reason one, is that first wash is important to have enough room and sometimes I take fresh projects to the laundromat to use the big machines. Second is that if anything bad happens, it happens to me and I can either fix it or we know that there was a problem that in no way came from the recipient. Third is I have pets and defurring things is a requirement around here. Some of us live with those sticky tape rollers everywhere and still go about covered with hair and threads..

I've had exactly one quilt ruined in my career by running dye. It was quite the shock to open the washer and find the sophisticated maroon, blue and silver/grey with sparkles of white now had baby pink blocks instead... the fabric never stopped running and the quilt never cleared up but as my friend said -- I can drink grape juice in bed with this one. I had taken my standard pre-washing precautions and it turned out it was not enough.

I've had many projects where maybe I was unhappy about the quality of my quilting stitches that came out better after washing. Other than the one that ran, none were worse after washing and others helped. Sometimes maybe a problem shows up better after washing, but it was usually there before and just not caught yet.

When giving as gifts, I do give instructions that the project was machine sewn, machine quilted and designed to be machine washable.

I never wash a quilt before I give it as a gift. I most always wash my fabrics before I start making the quilt. I don't like the crinkle look of a quilt after it has been washed.

I always wash my quilts before gifting now, especially since I started glue basting. This also gives me the opportunity to look for flaws in the quilt and be sure there is no bleeding. I would never want someone to receive as a gift a quilt that bleeds. Most importantly baby quilts need to be laundered first. I even wash my charity quilts. No surprises this way.

But what happens when the recipient washes it? Will they think they have ruined it?

I most always wash my quilts before gifting and I do it by throwing it the washer and dryer on my usually cycle....I also tell that they can throw it in the washer and dryer on their normal cycle....I don't want my quilts sitting in closet somewhere because they are "too good to use". However....it is a quilt that was meant to be on a wall, I do not. I paid a professional quilter to finish one of my Judy Neimyer quilts and I put a hanging sleeve on it so my nephew could hang it on the wall in his new house.

I don't--I don't like the look of it. I do include washing instructions and Colorcatchers. I always check fabrics for possible running and deal with it before I even cut if it's a problem.

[QUOTE=quiltingshorttimer;8430566]I don't--I don't like the look of it. I do include washing instructions and Colorcatchers. I always check fabrics for possible running and deal with it before I even cut if it's a problem.[/QUOTE

but what happens after the recipient washes it and it looks different and they think they ruined it?

Ditto to what most of the others have said. Final step is to wash/dry the finished quilt. Any failed seam surprises can be caught and hopefully repaired. My habit of starching before piecing gets washed out, and any unexpected dye failures are found out. Softer, crinkly results are to be expected, and in my book, that is part of the inherent nature and charm of a homemade quilt.