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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Help

Can anyone please tell me do you wash your fat quarters and hanky linen before you start cutting and stitching or do you put all the quilt together first then wash it.
I cant wait to start just recieved my sweet broderie fat quarters today and should recieve basics fat quarters and hanky linen Friday and my cosmo cottons should also come friday soo yipee,so just wanted to check which was the right thing to do before i start. And a big thankyou to Perri for all her help for tracking down fabrics for me.
cheers Sheryl

7 comments:

  1. That's always a hard one, Sheryl. And it depends who you ask...big help, aren't I?

    I haven't washed mine. I'm not gong to "use" the quilt. It's way too white and good to use in my furry, dusty house. If I have a quilt I use, I wash and tumble dry it. Can you hear some people groaning? The thing I noticed was the hanky linen. I cut it and then it shrank. So i had to cut more...I made sure I pressed/ironed it with good steam first though. The ironing causes some shrinkage. So just watch that. I've been told that the good modern fabrics don't need washing first like they did in the old days. Fabrics ran in the old days. Anyway, there's my input. *grin*

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  2. thankyou Sandy that was a big help especially with the hanky linen.
    cheers Sheryl

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  3. Hi Sheryl
    I work in a quilt shop and I tell my customers if they are going to wash their fabrics then do it before they cut them up, Its not good to wash some fabrics and not others then put them in a quilt because when you come to wash it the unwashed fabrics may shrink and spoil your quilt.I don't wash any of my fabrics until the quilt is all finished. Like Sandy said its not really necessary but remember if you want to wash first do so before you start sewing. I hope that helps you,

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  4. Personally I wash all my fabrics before I use them. I recently washed a pack of charm squares, very gently just swishing them in the laundry tub then laid them on towels to dry. They were 5" squares when I started & were 4 3/4" x 4 7/7" when I finished. I was shocked they would shrink that much but was very glad I'd washed them.
    Fabrics often run too so I'll always wash first.

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  5. Hi Sheryl,
    It is a very personal decision! I was taught when I first started patchworking to either wash or not! So I don't wash my fabrics first as my quilts are mostly decorative. I also love the feel of unwashed fabrics. Perhaps if the quilt was for a small child I might wash first. Some fabrics do run. I have had red run in a bag that I had to wash recently.

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  6. Hi ! I usually don't wash my fabrics before I start a project. I have some shrinking problem after stitching because I use a blue pen ( remove with water) to transfer the designs...so I take more fabric and recut when the stitchery is done. I don't know how I will do for this one...
    Florence

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