Wash Your Pre-Cuts?
Heiko Dear Friends and Readers, It is a dilemma! What is a girl to do when you want to combine pre-cuts, with fabric from your stash which is already washed?
And I know….some of you will probably think – serves her right for washing her fabric – right? But the fact is, I do like to pre wash all my fabric which I have described here in this post ” To Wash or Not to Wash – This is the Question”.
To Wash or Not to Wash?…This is the Question
But getting back to the original problem. How to combine them??? I think the answers could be…..forget it, don’t worry, just do it, but I hesitate, because, we all know how much work goes into a quilt, and I don’t really want to risk the shrinkage, or forget combining them altogether or….,.take the chance and wash the pre-cuts. So after much deliberation, much longer then it would take to actually do it, I did.
Well I’m glad I did. It’s all learning isn’t it? And here is the result.
In not entirely surprised. But what is surprising, is the variation. I laid the 5″ pre-cuts, which I washed, on top of a regular 5″ square, to show you the difference. They are all good quality fabrics but they have all shrunk somewhat, from 1/8th up to 3/8ths of an inch. So what to do? I decided that of the pieces I pictured, the top two I will use as is, with a slightly more scant seam, but the bottom two I will trim for another project.
I just hand washed the squares In warm water then dried them on a flat-ish surface Then a quick press and they were done. It didn’t take long at all.
I’m not sorry I did it. I can make my quilt with confidence now. Some of my seams will be slightly narrower but I know they won’t be under tension in the future when the quilt is washed. And the fabrics with excessive shrinkage I will trim and use for another project!
Now I’m off to start a new quilt – with confidence!
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And How I used these Charm Squares is here.
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Happy washing,
Susie