Skylark53

Ahh-wasn't even thinking about the thread shrinkage.

I think I'm going to go with Warm and Natural batting - seems highly recommended not only here but elsewhere as well. Since this will shrink...can I go ahead and wash it before I tie it? I actually do like the "crinkled" look in quilts but I really like the fabric prints I'm using and am concerned how they would affected by it.

Prism99

Warm and Natural is needlepunched through scrim, so it is a cotton batting that can be prewashed (and therefore preshrunk). If you prewash this batting, you do not need to add 5% to the quilt size. I would still add perhaps 2% because quilting does take up some of the size.

Prewashing this batting does not mean using soap and agitating. It basically means soaking in water until the fibers are saturated, then spinning out the water and drying (a tumbling dryer will give you the most shrinkage). If you have a top-loading washing machine, you can soak it in the washer tub. Just be sure to turn the machine off so you do not get agitation, then advance to spin cycle.

Skylark53

Thanks for the tips on prewashing!

Alright, I measured two mattresses in my house and got:
Full size: approx. 55x76
Queen: approx. 62x82

So, I'm thinking of doing either 13x16 finished 5.5" squares for 71.5x88
or 14x16 for 77x88

Warm and Natural has a queen size batting measuring at 90x108, so this would fit that. (I don't plan on doing a border, just the binding, about the size that is shown on this quilt: http://vintagegreyhandmade.blogspot....ork-quilt.html

Am I on the right track here? Thanks again, sorry for all the newbie questions....