Prewashing the 2021 BOM fabric

[KatjaBraun]

Dear Helen,

thank you for your response. I can't get the two chemicals, or to be correct I would have to get them shipped from the US, that cost a lot of money, and the shipping and the time and customs here, so no not this time.
I bought the fabrics at my local quilt shop and it is mainly two series, one from Denmark called Quilters shadow Style. The other solids don't show much on the selvage, it is called swan. In total I found 22 different solids plus two greens with leaves print for the trees (I didn't like the greens in the quilt and I usally don't like green), and the black for the roads.
The fusible bias tape was available, but has not yet arrived.
For the background I found a design with clouds (yeah!!) from wilmingtonprints called "bringing in the harvest"
And for the inner bordera German Gütermann fabric with a night sky.
It is such an adventure! I read in the discussions in the German guild that they use plenty of colour catchers, I guess that is the way I have to go and to put them in small units.

Why do you put them in the dryer? I thouht of washing them without to much centrifugation at the end and to hang them to reduce wrinkles.
My washing maschine has a program at 200° degrees Fahrenheit, but that is for bed linens :-)
Please find attached a photo of the fabrics.

[HelenW]

Dear Helen,

thank you for your response. I can't get the two chemicals, or to be correct I would have to get them shipped from the US, that cost a lot of money, and the shipping and the time and customs here, so no not this time.
I bought the fabrics at my local quilt shop and it is mainly two series, one from Denmark called Quilters shadow Style. The other solids don't show much on the selvage, it is called swan. In total I found 22 different solids plus two greens with leaves print for the trees (I didn't like the greens in the quilt and I usally don't like green), and the black for the roads.
The fusible bias tape was available, but has not yet arrived.
For the background I found a design with clouds (yeah!!) from wilmingtonprints called "bringing in the harvest"
And for the inner bordera German Gütermann fabric with a night sky.
It is such an adventure! I read in the discussions in the German guild that they use plenty of colour catchers, I guess that is the way I have to go and to put them in small units.

Why do you put them in the dryer? I thouht of washing them without to much centrifugation at the end and to hang them to reduce wrinkles.
My washing maschine has a program at 200° degrees Fahrenheit, but that is for bed linens :-)
Please find attached a photo of the fabrics.

Hello KatjaBraun,
I put my cottons in the dryer to shrink them. Cotton shrinks and by putting them in the dryer it happens before you cut the pieces for the quilt. Some people don't shrink their
fabric because they like the wrinkled look they get when the quilt gets washed some time down the line. I prefer it to look like when I first put it together. Quilters preference.
Your fabrics are beautiful. Great selection. I get rid of the wrinkles with steam and my Rowenta iron. HelenW

[KatjaBraun]

Dear Helen,

I washed almost all the fabric, (Trees and streets not yet), put in plenty of color catchers and put it in the dryer, all went well. Thank you for your support!

[HelenW]

Dear Helen,

I washed almost all the fabric, (Trees and streets not yet), put in plenty of color catchers and put it in the dryer, all went well. Thank you for your support!

KatjaBraun, Well Done!!! I still have not found a background fabric. I have flannels washed, dried, and ironed. I do have a large piece of Kona Jet Black from a previous
project, and can always get more since it seems to be a staple at many shops. Since I am not a city girl, I will be redesigning to fit my life style. I love Wendy's pattern,
even bought her Round the Garden pattern last week, but have not got it yet. 2021 should be a really fun year. HelenW

[beagle]

I hardly ever prewash fabric. I test them before to see if they run by laying a wet piece on white cotton. I have never used short cotton before and am unaware of the colorfastness of this line. You washed them, did you find a lot of bleed with the kit fabrics

[bbquiltmaker]

I hardly ever prewash fabric. I test them before to see if they run by laying a wet piece on white cotton. I have never used short cotton before and am unaware of the colorfastness of this line. You washed them, did you find a lot of bleed with the kit fabrics

I had some color on the Color Catchers, but not a lot. Some people wash with Hot water, they may have more. Most manufacturers are now saying to wash in Cold water.

[LKENNEDY]

I had the same problem.

[setaylor1]

I generally do not wash fabric that is being used in a wall hanging. Is this absolutely necessary if I do not plan to wash the quilt?

[HelenW]

I generally do not wash fabric that is being used in a wall hanging. Is this absolutely necessary if I do not plan to wash the quilt?

Setaylor1, Every quilter has their own reasons for washing or not washing. You can read the numerous posts on the topic with regards to this project. I would say, if you normally
do not wash wall hangings, and figure if anything weird happened like smoke damage, flood damage, etc. and you had to wash it and it bleed, you knew you took that chance and would not be upset with yourself. It is a lot of hours of work. I always go with better safe than sorry. HelenW

[Ron]

I generally don't prewash but am planning to do so this time. I purchased dye catchers. I ordered the kit a couple of days ago, so I have to wait for the arrival.
I checked my sewing machine and did not have a single hole needle plate which my quilt shop did not have in stock and ordered for me. You would think that the four
sewing machines that I have and I couldn't find the correct plate.

Ron

[kfoster183]

I don’t like to complain but.... I got my kit yesterday and was so excited. Came too late to start so got up early and divided fabric into light and dark.Used ruler to trim a 45 degree angle on the corners. Took to washing machine, which has an agitator and set machine to cold, delicate least amount of time. Added a color catcher. After 6 minutes load stopped. Opened top and fabric was in a wadded ball. The unraveling was terrible. Got scissors and started to untangle the mess. Put in dryer on low for 15 minutes. Have now spent almost 3 hours pressing and trimming the sides. Looks like I lost at least 1/2 inch of fabric on each side. I had never used shot cotton before and usually don’t prewash quality cottons. Did not do the darks. Wished I had not prewashed. Everyone will have to decide for themselves. Feel like I paid money for a trash can full of fiber. Use your best judgement. Looking forward to beginning houses. Hope it goes better than step one

[bbquiltmaker]

kfoster183, I am sorry you had problems with pre-washing the fabric. I did not have that situation with my kit. There is sufficient fabric in the kit that you will not run out.

Each person will have to decide if they want to pre-wash. Your experience may help someone else decide to hand wash the darkest pieces to see if there is color loss.

[PleasantValleyFarm]

I just got my kit yesterday. YEAH!! Washed everything last night. I did edge-stitch about 1/16" on all raw edges and had very little loose threads or tangles.

Pressing did take a long time with the Shot Cottons. Reminds me of pressing linen. Easy to deal with...just more time.

I plan to cut my strips on the grainline vs. cross-grain. Reason: Quite a few of the colors will loose a lot of yardage if I try to square the fabric before cutting the strips. I don't think there will be much difference in the end result. Only the shot cottons have this issue. (When it comes to the road and background fabrics I will follow the rules.)
Barbara: If you foresee anything negative doing this, please let me know.

I LOVE paper-piecing and will do the traditional method where you stitch through the paper and have to tear it away. I find the tearing it away process relaxing. (Does that make me weird???) LOL

[bbquiltmaker]

PleasantValleyFarm, thanks for your washing update.

No problem cutting the shot cotton lengthwise--meaning you are cutting parallel to the selvedge. Still cut 3.5" strips to start with from all but the charcoal and white and background fabrics. When you run out of one color, just cut another strip.

You are not weird, just very much in the minority about tearing away the paper. Go for it!

[bbquiltmaker]

I wash fabrics to get the sizing out and pre-shrink. I haven't sewn with shot cotton or hand-dyed. I prewashed fabric for my daughter's quilt. I needed to wash it again, but the batting shrunk causing the top and back to pucker. I wonder if it would be fine if I hadn't prewashed the top fabric and backing.
With this project I'm going to do a test run with washing one color.
When I didn't worry about color loss, I just soaked the fabric in hot water for about 15 minutes or so (not using washing machine). I'm not sure what I'll eventually do with this fabric.