JoVan

Okay, I will look for the color catcher next time I go to the store. Many thanks! My sister, now deceased had collected hankies to make into quilts. I am going to try to make just a crib quilt out of some of the prettiest white ones. This quilt will not have colors. I haven't decided just what I will do yet and will appreciate any ideas or suggestions.

Judie

I think whichever side you take the important thing is to be consistant.. if you pre-wash, wash everything.. if you think it's just fine the way it is, then keep everything that way.. At least then you know for sure and won't have a quilt with mixed fabrics.

I always pre-wash.

Besides not having to worry about shrinking problems and bleeding, it allows the fabric to relax and return to it's natural state.. being machine wound onto a bolt distorts it and makes it hard to cut on grain. That's why when you go to straighten it, it is sometimes way off. It's been wound on the bolt and the inside turn of the fabric is shorter than the outside.. It doesn't roll on there straight and it's crocked when they roll it off to measure it. It stays that way (unless you happen to get your piece cut at a time when it's still pretty straight)unless you pre-wash it.

I usually don't pre-wash kits or something like a jelly roll.. That could be a mess.. and those things are not put into the general population of my stash.

galvestonangel

I prewash or should say pre-rinse. I put my fabric one at a time in the sink in warm water to see if it bleeds. I just had a blue (quilt shop fabric) that bled like a stuck pig. Then I squeeze the fabric in a towel to get most of the water out and throw all in the dryer(for shrinkage). I don't have the thread tangles this way. I know some quilters don't prewash and that works for them. But for me, if I didn;t pre wash, I know every fabric I had would bleed and shrink. Murphy's Law

JoVan

I originally thought I would sew my hankies to a white broadcloth block and then sew the blocks together. At one time I considered embroidering the hankies onto the blocks. The lady at the fabric store told me I needed to fuse the hankies on the block before trying to sew or embroider them. I'm not able to quilt it myself so I will need to have someone else do that for me.

juneayerza

For me, it depends on what type of use the end item will get. As an example, I'm going to make a long picnic table cover (157inches long and 40 inches wide)with red, green and white fabric. These are the Basque flag colors. Since it will be washed frequently after it is finished I will prewash all of the fabric for color and shrinkage just to make sure. Yes, either surge the edges or run a machine stitch all the way around the cut edges. I learned this the hard way; I took a large fabric piece out of washer and spent the next hour trying to get it untangled from all the threads that had come loose and wound themselves all up and down the fabric.

Purses, wall hangings and anything else that probable won't be thrown in the washer I don't prewash.

susieob

I take a class once a month and my instructor never prewashes fabric.

dsb38327

I see value in doing it 'all' (except kits or small cuts) one way or the other. If it is all prewashed when it goes into the sewing room there is less opportunity to forget if you did or did not prewash it.

Judi in Ohio

I never pre wash. I like the crinkly look after washing non washed fabrics that are quilted. I use Shout color catchers and I think Carbona makes a sheet that I like - I've also heard just plain muslin will soak up extra dyes. I've done many, many scrappy bold, dark quilts with wow's and no runs when using the color catchers.
Judi in Ohio

Ada Shiela

Someone recently wrote in and said their fabric had shrunk as much as 50cms (18inches) and that is a dreadful amount - I pre-wash everything, even if it's only a quick dip in the handbasin for small pieces up to 1mtr (yard+3" for those who wish to know LOL)-larger amounts go in the shower basin because I don't have a laundry sink at present.

mayday

I didn't for quite a time , then started as a quilter almost had a conniption fit that I didn't -------was VERY plsed she did as I was to make an xmas quilt and use a super bright red for binding--- WOW the wash water looked like a murder scene, so have done ever since.