Gennynut

I purchased a pack of Moda 5 inch charms. I washed them before I cut them. Some of them shrank! and are now 5 inch by 4 1/2. Anyone else have this happen? Luckily I need them to cut some 2x5 strips out them. Sure glad I washed them before I put them in a quilt and have them shrink later! Does Moda Charms and other big name brands usually come prewashed or am I just spoiled by the ones I've got on Ebay that are prewashed.

nativetexan

I don't wash them. that's the only problem with them. you must use them with other fabric that hasn't been washed so it will all shrink together.
some people soak them and lay them out but i'm sure different fabrics shrink more than others even so.

Gennynut

So why wouldn't you wash all materials before cutting and sewing ? That way the shrinking would be before you put the quilt together. Then later if you wash your quilt there would be very little if any shrinkage.

kluedesigns

this is why i won't buy charms, jelly's, turnovers, etc.

i wash all my fabric before i cut and sew.

i've learned the hard way that dyes run, fabric shrinks at different rate, etc.

unless you never intend to wash the quilt after its finished you should wash all fabrics first.

BellaBoo

I would never wash jelly rolls or charm packs. I can see a big mess of scraps to deal with. So far I haven't had any of the precut fabric shrink or bleed to bother the quilt after it's sewn. I have only bought Moda or other name brand fabrics when using chams or rolls. Bali Pops are my new favorite! None has bleed at all.

justwannaquilt

To those that prewash fabric do you also prewash batting?

kluedesigns

if its a utility quilt i pre-soak my batting and then put it in the dryer

Jeannie

I wash it all before I cut and sew. Although it might not be the best thing to do i wash it when I get home from the quilt store so it is ready to sew when I need it..

Prism99

Quilting pretty much keeps fabric from shrinking a lot if you don't prewash. I took a class from Harriet Hargrave, and she showed us a flannel quilt she had made to prove her point. She did not prewash the flannel and machine quilted the quilt. There was no shrinkage at all that we could see. She said that machine quilting keeps everything in place.

I don't prewash fabrics or batting because I like the gentle crinkling effect I get when I wash the finished quilt. I think this shrinkage and crinkling is primarily from the batting (I use 100% cotton).

The fabrics all do need to be similar in weight and quality, I think. For example, HH did not mix flannel and regular cottons in the quilt she showed us.

Jeannie

I have never prewashed batting. I use warm and Natural and once the quilt (baby quilt 36x36) is complete I wash. I have not tried this on a large quilt.