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wash or not? before cutting quilt pieces

wash or not? before cutting quilt pieces

Old 10-20-2010, 11:01 AM
  #11  
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I don't wash unless I think it will shrink a lot or bleed. But I do wash flannel.
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Old 10-20-2010, 11:11 AM
  #12  
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I guess it really depends on how much you like to iron. I know that when I don't wash, I have to do a light press, but when I wash, I have to iron. And I hate to iron.

If the fabrics are flannels or batiks, washing is a must. Flannels because of shrinkage, and batiks because there may be left over dyes from the batiking process. Rule of thumb used to be that reds / purples had to be washed because of bleeding, but that isn't always the case. You can do a test piece, but I've also been told horror stories about a fabrics bleeding in a quilt even after the fabric was pre-washed.

Also, if you are doing a swap of some type, check and make sure whether fabrics are supposed to be washed or not so everyone's fabrics are the same.
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Old 10-20-2010, 12:02 PM
  #13  
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I do not wash before and so far no problems.
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Old 10-20-2010, 01:18 PM
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light colors, no. bright colors, YES
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Old 10-20-2010, 02:22 PM
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Only wash shades of red.
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Old 10-20-2010, 02:47 PM
  #16  
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I wash all of it but flannel gets hot water and hot dryer!!!
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Old 10-20-2010, 03:36 PM
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I am a firm believer in pre-washing. I have had some very expensive LQS fabric shrink more than 1/8 inch after washing. I prefer to control the outcome of my quilt project as much as possible. So I pre-wash for: color bleed, fabric shrinkage, etc. I also second the opinion about warehouses and most storerooms. Have you ever been in one? They are nasty.
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Old 10-20-2010, 03:39 PM
  #18  
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I know you should...but I don't. To me it adds to the element of nubbie~ness that I want. I use color catchers always when washing quilts too.
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Old 10-20-2010, 04:12 PM
  #19  
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I'm rather new to quilting. The first 2 I made I did not prewash the fabric. I really like the crispness of the fabric while I'm working with it. BUT, then this bedbug thing started and the quilt I'm working on now I order the fabric online from Hancock Fabric so I did prewash. It shrunk more than I though it would. I still had enough fabric but I wasn't expecting as much shrinkage. It was rather inexpensive fabric, not sure if this was a factor or not.
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Old 10-20-2010, 04:57 PM
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Originally Posted by quiltnmom
I'm rather new to quilting. The first 2 I made I did not prewash the fabric. I really like the crispness of the fabric while I'm working with it. BUT, then this bedbug thing started and the quilt I'm working on now I order the fabric online from Hancock Fabric so I did prewash. It shrunk more than I though it would. I still had enough fabric but I wasn't expecting as much shrinkage. It was rather inexpensive fabric, not sure if this was a factor or not.
Just use Magic Sizing when you iron and your crispness will return. Or if you really want to control that bias stretch use starch.
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