sharoney

I always prewash fabric. Then when the quilt is finished, I wash the quilt. The batting shrinks just enough to give it the crinkly look. Works for me.

GGinMcKinney

Well, I prewash with hot water and dry in the hottest dryer so whatever someone does to it later it will withstand without further shrinkage. I soak fabric in vinegar or salt if I am concerned it might bleed. I get a lot of fabric from the church pantry to make charity quilts and don't want those folks to receive a gift and it not stand up to washing. I cut the corners of the fabric so I know I washed it. Usually wash it as soon as I bring it home (but not always). Do not wash FQs.

mammab

Last year I made a quilt that required a couple of 42"(WOF) strips. I was using the manufactures pattern. I preshrunk the fabric, so when I measured my strips they were over 1" shorter than the pattern called for. So I always preshrink my fabric.

Pzazz

I am a prewasher. Always have been. Here's an example of why. This was from a class I took. The instructor insisted that since I was using a Moda charm pack I didn't need to prewash, and I let her convince me. That was the first and last time that I didn't prewash.

This pic has one placemat upside down so you see the red backing. The washed mat is right side up. You can see how much it shrank!!! Plus, look at the colour bleed. I did put a couple of colour catchers in with this placemat when I washed it.

Patti