Pre Washing fabrics

[Connie A.]

I just received the wonderful fabric kit for Christmas! I read that Barbara suggests washing the fabrics before starting the piecing. I have never pre washed my fabrics before, so was wondering if by doing so would I have enough fabric to complete the quilt top? Also, do you wash in the washing machine or by hand and what temp water, with laundry soap or without? Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help on this subject.

[Jill B.]

Hi Connie,

I always also wash my fabrics and depends on the qty I have to wash. If its only 2 or 3 FQTS then I will do by hand, if it is a lot I will use the gentle wash with the lower wash cycle and lower spin. I will sort them lights or darks and wash the two piles separately. I will then spray starch when ironing as I find this makes the fabric easier to handle.

[Barbara B.]

I often don’t use soap as they aren’t dirty. K put a color catcher sheet in each load to see if there is much color loss. Neither the dark or light loads lost much dye. I do as Jill B described, use a short/gentle cycle, then machine dry until mostly dry.

[groomer]

Hi, I washed all my kit fabrics. Will starching my applique fabric make it harder to turn the edges under using apliquick rods?

[Barbara B.]

[QUOTE=groomer;n890525]Hi, I washed all my kit fabrics. Will starching my applique fabric make it harder to turn the edges under using apliquick rods?[/QUOTE]

I wouldn’t starch fabrics stiff that are used for turned edge appliqué. As usual, try a small sample to see if the fabric works as you want it to.

[AmyE]

I'm planning on making a scrappy version with precuts and scraps that I have, so I can't really prewash them. I don't usually prewash because when I have done a pieced quilt, I like the look of the crinkly finish after I wash the quilt. I haven't done this with applique though. Will the result be the same, or are there other dangers here that I am unaware of? Thanks.

[Helen W.]

[QUOTE=AmyE;n890532]I'm planning on making a scrappy version with precuts and scraps that I have, so I can't really prewash them. I don't usually prewash because when I have done a pieced quilt, I like the look of the crinkly finish after I wash the quilt. I haven't done this with applique though. Will the result be the same, or are there other dangers here that I am unaware of? Thanks. [/QUOTE]

Amy, I am a lover of batiks and most applique that I do includes a lot of batiks. They are notorious for excess dye that bleeds when
it gets wet. I have had very little dye problems with regular quilt cottons. Usually can wash the non batik quilt after it is made with dye catchers in the washer and have no problems. I have a friend that made a Judy Neimeyer quilt, beautiful, with lots of red and purple batiks. When she got done quilting it, she was trying to remove quilting lines that are water erase and just using a little water on the lines, the color migrated into the light color batiks. It was not pretty. If you do have batiks that are precuts, I put them in a large zip lock with really hot water and Synthrpol and soak for 20 minutes then rinse. I have not had a problem with dye when I have done that. You could wash the applique fabrics and not the background fabrics and you would still get shrinkage that gives the crinkly look.I have never done that so I don't know how that would look. If you are just using regular fabrics you probably won't have a problem. If you want to see if the red, blues and purples are going to bleed, just put one piece in a glass of hot water, wait 20 minutes and see if the water color has changed. HelenW

[AmyE]

Thank you Helen. I am using Kaffe Fassett fabrics, almost entirely. i have also had similar problems with batiks and hand dyes, so I would definitely test those for colorfastness before I used them in anything. Once burned....I don't anticipate dye issues with these fabrics, thankfully. i was more concerned with the shrinkage factor. I suppose as long as i don't prewash anything, the shrinkage would at least be consistent with the background fabrics. Is that the right way to think about that?

[Judith A.]

Amy, I plan to use Kaffe fabrics also, but not the Kaffe shot cottons. I had a big dye bleed once with a few of the Kaffe shot cottons. Also, they were more thinly woven and tended to shrink more that regular quilting fabrics. But they are really beautiful. I would preshrink them and test them before using them.

[Barbara B.]

[QUOTE=AmyE;n890532]I'm planning on making a scrappy version with precuts and scraps that I have, so I can't really prewash them. I don't usually prewash because when I have done a pieced quilt, I like the look of the crinkly finish after I wash the quilt. I haven't done this with applique though. Will the result be the same, or are there other dangers here that I am unaware of? Thanks. [/QUOTE]

Amy, I don’t usually pre-wash either. I do with a Kit so I can see what is likely to happen. My sample quilt has some pre-washed, some not. So you are OK not to pre-wash if that is your preference. I use Color Catchers when washing finished quilts.

[Barbara B.]

[QUOTE=AmyE;n890540]Thank you Helen. I am using Kaffe Fassett fabrics, almost entirely. i have also had similar problems with batiks and hand dyes, so I would definitely test those for colorfastness before I used them in anything. Once burned....I don't anticipate dye issues with these fabrics, thankfully. i was more concerned with the shrinkage factor. I suppose as long as i don't prewash anything, the shrinkage would at least be consistent with the background fabrics. Is that the right way to think about that?[/QUOTE]

Amy, each fabric is different, even from one designer. As was already mentioned, Kaffe shot cottons and the stripes are much different weights than regular quilting cottons in his line. I would not assume they would all handle the same during construction or with washing the finished quilt.

[Tena D.]

I debated about washing my kit fabrics, but finally decided better safe than sorry. It took me a good part of the day to wash and iron all of them (two loads - lights and darks.) I usually wait until I’m ready to use before I iron, but wanted them all tidy and ready to go.