bearisgray - I do have the muslin left. I bought it for the purposes of practicing with "no guilt" on the frame. I will try the test you mention and let people know. I looked again at the placemat. The muslin is almost flat, and the front looks like a parachute. I'm starting to think it's at least partly the muslin in this case. I'm tempted to remove the binding to see what the batting looks like at the edges.
I'm not sure why she made me promise that, but I know that next time I think I'll just fib to her! I also have found that I have really irritated the eczema on my fingers over the last couple of months while working with this stuff (and chalk) - it may not be a coincidence that I don't usually have to worry about it with my prewashed fabrics. The only fabrics I don't wash are when the pattern says "prewashing not recommended" like in the case of the Stonehenge Aphrodite border fabrics I was using. Other than that, it all gets a welcome home bath.
I think I might just go accidentally drop the rest of those batiks into the washer.
Prism99 - This was a batting that one of the quilt shops was carrying. It was their cotton offering. I bought it about a year ago, and didn't "know any better". I thought it would be "OK". I'm sure glad I didn't buy more of it.
I kept the wrap for the batting, it's what tells me 1 - 5% shrinkage, and 12% poly propylene. (I had misremembered the 13% and the 3%)
I'm guessing the part in the red area is why there's not a lot of info online for it.
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I can only wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't preshrunk!
Candace - *Hand over heart!* I promise! Now and forever I will pre-wash from now on!
I lived in fear of that dark blue running! I threw 2 color catchers (my Canadian contraband!) in and they came out indigo, but I think that was the backing which was roughly indigo but darker. The batiks showed no sign of running, luckily! I did know it would draw up some with the quilting, but when I put it on the bed, there was maybe an inch on each side of the white showing on the bed at the sides. Today, there's closer to 4 inches on each side. When it was a flimsy, the white ran to the edge of the mattress.
FroggyinTexas - I assumed it was me because I've been quilting less than 18 months and this was my first time not prewashing, preshrinking batting, and doing a quilt this big. I was positive in that cocktail of new experiences I'd learned a lesson but didn't know what it was yet.
I love your idea of making it bigger and letting it shrink!
Jeanne S - At worst, it would have been warm wash, cold rinse and a warm dryer. That's how I preshrunk the batting too, so it would "understand" when real life hit it.
OnebyOne - Nowadays, I do understand that the cotton requires a "framework" to sit on. I was frustrated at the time though that the label makes it look to a rank newbie (which I was) like it's 100% cotton. I thought someone had figured out how to do a stable cotton batting without pop bottles. It was my fault for not reading the small print. I still don't like how 88% = 100% in advertising land.
debbiemarie - looking at this placemat, I'm really thinking the muslin was at least partially responsible, like you mention.
AngeliaNR - 2 of the 3 batiks were from TrendTex, I'm not sure of the manufacturer though. The dark blue.... uh... it was a Fabricland fabric. Shhhh! Don't tell!
I'd sworn off their fabrics, but the color was so lovely. I tried to leave it in the store 3 times before I finally gave in and took it home.
QuiltnNan - shrinkage was never my reason for prewashing, but it sure is a reason I'll do it now!