Originally Posted by Stummel
I don't know, I've never used starch in my entire life. I bought some recently, having read so much about it, but not sure what the effects are exactly or if it needs to be washed out?
Starch stabilizes the fabric so it doesn't distort while you are machine quilting. It prevents unwanted tucks and puckers. I don't like machine quilting without it because it prevents so many problems.
It should be washed out afterwards, but this can be a simple rinsing. At that point you would probably want to re-block the quilt without starch for gift-giving.