MadQuilter

The idea of working with precuts is that you are dealing with an exact measurement right out of the gate. Any time you wash the precut it WILL skew the size. 5" square may not be 5" any longer and I guarantee that it won't be square. Don't even want to think about what happens to a jelly roll strip. So that negates the point of working with precuts.

With the availability of color catchers, prewashing is no longer such a hot requirement imo.

bearisgray

From what i have read, one should verify the measurements of the precuts before proceeding?

I know that when i cut AROUND a template the piece is slightly larger than the template - so i do not need to use a. "scant" seam. I am wondering if the preccuts and die- cut pieces are "exact" and therefore require the use of a narrower seam

EasyPeezy

I buy charm packs and jelly rolls for the variety of fabric I can get
not so much for the size because they are never the same once
I starch. I would never dream of washing charms or jelly rolls.
But then I don't usually pre-wash unless it's dark fabric.
Sometimes I take my chances and use one or two color catchers
after I finished the quilt. And life goes on.

Watson

I never buy pre-cuts just for this reason.
I wash and dry and starch everything that comes in. I figure that gives me one more bit of control over the finished product.

Watson

joe'smom

I have only worked with pre-cuts a few times (jelly rolls and layer cakes), and did pre-wash by hand. My experience with the layer cakes showed there was quite a bit of shrinkage one way, very little the other way. It didn't matter, because I wasn't using them as 10" squares. There was very little shrinkage on the width of the jelly roll strips, and I was still able to use them as 2.5" strips. All of the pre-cuts had pinked edges, and were far from exact.

quiltingcandy

I prewash because of what the chemicals on the fabric do to my finger tips and nails. I recently bought a kit with 9 pieces of 1/3 yard cuts - all 9 shrank. It was the first time that ever happened to me, but it was probably because I didn't put them in the mesh bags. But better to shrink before than after. I had to adapt the quilt, which was not a big deal but I was surprised. Also, I could have dried them on a clothes rack but that didn't occur to me. When I wash my jelly rolls or charm packs I don't put them through the dryer, they are either flat dried or hung on a clothes rack. My reason is to remove the harsh chemicals.

Onebyone

One way to know why is to wash a jelly roll or a charm pack. LOL I won't do that again.

QuiltingHaven

I wash it all. I have only been quilting for 7 years (retired teacher) but in that time I have learned...wash it. I have had blacks and reds bleed all over and ruined one quilt. So, I now use color catchers and wash everything when I bring it in the door. Yes, I was all pre-cuts, and lay them out when still damp and they don't shrink as much as the first ones that I did and lost up to 3/4's of an inch in many already "cut for me". So I wash them and if they shrink, then I change the quilt directions and go to as much as of up to 3/4" to make the fabric work and adapt the quilt slightly.

luvspaper

UnRaveling and wrinkling keep me from buying and using anything less than A fat qtr usually....because I prewash pretty much ch everything... smells, dust,chemicals, who know what else since people are usually feeling fabric before buying.

Plus honestly I look at overall value and cost....and don't find precuts smaller than a fat qtr to be a good alue

MargeD

I understand the question; however the problem with precuts is that those small pieces can get lost in the machine, even washing them in a net bag. I've always been a pre-washer as long as I have been quilting; however, now i think I will switch as it takes a lot of time, plus we live in an apt., and it costs us $1.75 each time we wash or dry and that adds up. So I think I will join the no prewashing group and see how it goes, at least for a little while.