That always seems to be part of conversation among us quilters. Pre-wash or not? Sometimes I wonder why I pre-wash, especially after having to iron a mess like this. Probably the biggest reason why I pre-wash is this: I use to not pre-wash but after becoming a longarm quilter I found that my quilting design would get lost in the quilt after it had been washed because of all the shrinkage. I do like that look sometimes, depending on the quilt. But most the time I want to see the quilting. Oh and better tension on my longarm quilting machine and that's why I pre-wash.
What about you? Would love to know if you pre-wash or not and why?
5 comments:
I don't prewash but now you have me thinking about that....I will have to do some comparisons...
I am 25-75! I hate ironing so that is why I haven't in the past, but now that I am really starting to like making quilts I am trying to get in a better habit of pre-washing...... You are right, the big mess of fabric is no fun to iron out!
I NEVER pre-wash fabric for quilting. I only pre-wash fabric for clothing. To minimize shrinkage I have soaked my batting, put it on spin in the washer and then dried it in the dryer. Most of the shrinkage will come from the cotton batting. This greatly reduces the shrinkage problem. I like the sizing which the fabric has when I am cutting out quilt pieces, it helps to stabilize the fabric during cutting. The other reason I don't pre-wash is that I don't like to press (iron), and I am all about saving time and getting things done.
Good point RobinStar Quilting! I am so lucky to have a sister like you I learn so much from! Love Ya!
RobinStar Quilting summed it up for me pretty good. And I'm with you on the whole long-arm, intricate quilting. If I know a client wants a poly-blend batting, I won't wash the fabric if I'm getting it long-arm quilted because I know it won't shrink up as much. But if I'm going for the crinkly goodness that comes from an all-cotton quilt - I do the quilting myself and keep it pretty simple. Does that make sense?
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