Washing Quilt Fabrics

gretchenweaver

August 03, 2016

Did you press it all before folding? This was a very ambitious project. I store most of my fabric by color but I store by genre. Now what are you going to piece? Gretchen

Sandy

August 03, 2016

I wash (and dry in the dryer) all newly acquired fabrics before they go into my stash. I don’t have to guess if a fabric in my stash is washed or unwashed. They’re all washed and ready to go!

Esther Aliu

August 03, 2016

An important post! I don’t always pre-wash, it depends on the project, the fabric and the colour but I am finding more and more that I do colour test just about everything these days.

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hi Esther

I agree colour testing is so important! pre-washing is a personal choice, and it does depend on the technique and style of the quilts you are making. I confess that some of my quilts have been made with-out pre washing only because I am always in too much of a hurry to start the project. By pre-washing all my fabric I now don’t have to worry, as I find the quilts I make and the techniques I use work well with pre washed fabrics. Great to know what your take on the subject is.

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hi Sandy
Thats a great routine to be in and one I will be adhering to from now on. I don’t have a dryer, so it’s the clothesline for me.

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hi Gretchen

No I do not bother to iron before folding but always iron before cutting. I am planning an applique quilt along, I have the design planned but that does not mean I will be keeping to it. I will blog about each block and quilters can follow along making the blocks with me. I will let you all know as soon as I get it up and running, maybe a week or two.

RobinLovesQuilting

August 03, 2016

Wow – that sounds like a huge project but oh so worth it! I love the way a stash looks when all the fabrics are arranged so they coordinate.

ukcitycrafter

August 03, 2016

What a massive undertaking you must feel so pleased that it’s all done. I confess to never washing my fabrics but I think maybe I should start to!
Your appliqué quilt along sounds interesting.

Plum Cox

August 03, 2016

That does look like a lot of fabric to wash! I don’t pre-wash mine (I like the feel of the fabric nice and crisp from the manufacturer!). Occasionally I have colour run issues, but my worst case of that was when I was using fabric that I’d dyed myself and thought was all washed until the water was clear!
Love seeing your fabrics folded up at the end – so satisfying!

Kate

August 03, 2016

What an undertaking! But good for you to have it all done.

Nancy

August 03, 2016

I love the photos of your fabrics hanging on the line. I wondered about whether you ironed them before folding but you already answered that, above. I’m also wondering if you notice the weight of the damp fabric pulling the rest out of square because you’re hanging the fabric by the corner. (It could take forever to hang with two clothes pins — and take up tons of space, too!) If it’s out of square, I suppose it would be easy enough to pull it back before/while folding.

Except for yardage I wash all fabric before folding and putting with similar colors. I think it makes it easy to begin a quilt. Enjoy your newly washed, folded, and arranged fabrics. What fun!

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hi Nancy

A good point about the way the fabric is hanging and it being pulled out of square. I find fabric to be very forgiving, when folding the fabric after washing, it seems to all come back into shape with a little encouragement. I also find that it is good to bring it in off the line when still just slightly damp.

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hi Plum

Everyone has their own ideas on washing/ or not washing fabrics. I had a very bad experience with my Luscious Berry Baskets quilt. The only fabric I did not wash was the binding and guess what it ran into the cream background fabric. Panic!! as I was under pressure on a deadline to place the quilt in our yearly guild show. Lucky for me a little sunlight soap got the dye run out.

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hi Plum

Everyone has their own ideas on washing/ or not washing fabrics. I had a very bad experience with my Luscious Berry Baskets quilt. The only fabric I did not wash was the binding and guess what it ran into the cream background fabric. Panic!! as I was under pressure on a deadline to place the quilt in our yearly guild show. Lucky for me a little sunlight soap got the dye run out. That said, it depends on the techniques you are using and the purpose of the quilt.

Quilter in Motion

August 03, 2016

Your post was timely for me. I’m in the process of buying cottons to make Roman Shades, pieced, just like a quilt and I’ve been debating whether to wash it all first since I don’t want to worry about shrinkage once the Roman Shades are made. I do have a question about the raveling. Should I just cut the edges with my pinking shears? Since I won’t be cutting the fabrics into smaller pieces, I’m thinking I"d just have to trim the edges to avoid the raveling.

Sharon Keightley

August 03, 2016

Hello

Nice to hear from you and glad I can help. I have a front loading washing machine and I find I dont have as much problem with fraying as I did with an agitator machine. As you will be washing fabric that is in larger quantities (not cut into small squares) you will find that the fabric will not fray as much. Although trimming the cut edge with pinking shears will help, as will trimming the corners with a small 45 degree cut.

I hope this is of help to you.

Warm Regards
Sharon