Belfrybat

I don't measure after it is completed. I also don't wash the charity quilts I give away. I want them to have that new crisp look so the recipients don't think they are getting a used quilt. I do include washing instructions and a note that says to expect 1 - 2" shrinkage.

QuiltnLady1

I measure the top before I put borders on, I wet and dry hot the batting if I want the quilt flat, I measure the quilt after it is quilted and squared up, but I only rarely measure after I bind it. I do wash after I have it completed.

quilttiger

I measure the quilt before adding the borders. Then the completed top is measured to determine how much backing is needed. I've noticed some shrinkage after the quilting is done. Another measurement is taken for the binding. If it is a lap quilt or a coverlet, it is washed in cold water, gentle cycle. There is usually a bit more shrinkage.

The only time I am concerned about the actual measurement is when it is a quilt of valor since there are minimum and maximum requirements to keep in mind.

kathy

I've done it on several quilts just because I was curious as to how much you "loose" with each step

bearisgray

Do you remember the results?

Sheilz

[QUOTE=silliness;7222704]I never measure mine. But I haven't had the occasion to need to be that precise yet. If i was making a quilt for a bed, I probably would.

I usually wash my charity quilts before turning them in. When I do wash them, I wash them on cold or warm water with no detergent and use an unscented dryer sheet. There is no need for detergent because the detergent starts the process of breaking down the fibers much faster. For example, bath towels need no detergent added to the load. They already have soap on them from your body. Just wash them in hot water and you are good to go. The lifespan of your bath towels is much shorter if you use detergent on them because it wears down the fibers much faster.

After an incident last year, I learned that I am allergic to almost every laundry detergent so I make my own. The ladies in my charity group wash all their fabrics and quilts in this perfumed laundry detergent like Tide, All, Cheer etc. and follow it up with heavily perfumed dryer sheets like bounce or snuggle. It is like smoking, you don't notice how much fragrance is in it until you stop using it. LOL. Sometimes it smells up the entire room. If I were a parent of a terminally ill child and they received a quilt that additionally breaks them out in hives due to fragrance, formaldehyde, or other chemicals from the detergent and dryer sheets I would be really mad. Their immune system is so low already, stuff like that can set them off. So I think that is worse than not washing at all. Fortunately, the head of my group mentioned that she washes the quilts before she distributes them out. Especially, if they have any scent at all. So in the situation of the above quilter who mentioned she doesn't wash her charity quilts, it may not matter.


I have also read elsewhere that the perfume smells from fabric conditioner etc are in fact toxins and was going to be knocking this off the shopping list. Till now I've been guilty of using this to excess. I hadn't thought of the impact on those with low immune systems. Thank you for the prod.

I some times wash quilts before I give them away but if I'm not planning on washing a quilt I wear a fresh pair of gloves for handling the fabric, esp where there is white fabrics involved.

Neesie

I'm afraid I don't quite understand your reasoning behind not using soap/detergent. Hot water will not remove body oils from clothing/toweling/fabric, without a surfactant (detergent, for instance). I would much rather replace the articles from time to time, and have them clean.

Edie

You wash your underwear when you buy them at the store before you use them. You wash your sheets, pillowcases before you put them on a bed, why would you not wash a finished quilt? I finish my quilt and take it to the laundromat and put it in the giant washer so it has room to schlupp around. Then depending on the weather - bad - dryer at the laundromat - good - hang out on the line outside and fluff it up in my dryer. But then I am one of those people who packs Lysol spray to spray on the bed at a motel. I would never give a gift, charity or otherwise, without it being clean (clean meaning finger clean, dog hair clean, cat hair clean and just the fact that I gave it clean. Edie

IBQUILTIN

If a finished and washed quilt did not measure what it was supposed to; I would worry and worry about what I had done wrong. If it is finished, its finished and going to stay that way. I have enough worries in life without that. If it squared upok, then it is fine.

ArchaicArcane

In one of her books, I think it's the Quilting for Show book, Karen McTavish shows stretching a quilt back to its original dimensions after washing.

Sometimes, depending on the quilting - washing is easier than dealing with markings individually or dealing with dissolving thread, etc. In the case of the wholecloth wall hanging I made, I measured prior to quilting, after quilting and then once it was washed, I took it from the dryer a little damp and stretched it back to the quilted dimensions.

So far, other than that I've only measured when something looked "wrong". If I laid out a top on my bed, then quilted it, washed it and it laid out differently afterward, I measure. With the labyrinth that I posted probably almost a year ago, it "shrunk" a fair bit and the borders no longer sat in the same spot on the bed. Now we have a new mattress so it looks almost like what I though it would originally.