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Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Why do you recommend pre-washing fabrics?
There are several good reasons to pre-wash fabrics. The first is to “set” the color. The dye in many contemporary fabrics will bleed during the first few washing cycles and may transfer color to your hands or other fabrics during cutting and sewing. This is especially true for dark colors and hand dyed items. The second is to preshrink the fabric to prevent the finished quilt from wrinkling after the first washing. Essentially, you are “setting” the size of the fabric. Fabrics from different manufacturers or from different lots of the same manufacturer may have significantly different shrink rates. Some fabrics will not shrink the same amount along their length and width. Finally, some people are sensitive to the sizing and other chemicals used in the fabric manufacturing process, washing the fabrics will remove these chemicals. These are the reasons we pre-wash the fabric in most of our kits.

Separate your colors. Wash fabrics in warm water using quilt soap. Air-dry.

Some quilters prefer to work with unwashed fabrics because they like the stiffness of the sized fabric, or prefer the wrinkled look in their finished quilt. In any case, always check fabrics for colorfastness before using them.

How do I check for colorfastness or bleeding and what can I do about it?
Soak a small swatch of fabric in clear hot water. If the water changes color, then the dye is bleeding. Wash the bleeders separately in hot water and add Synthropol – this will pull the excess die out of the fabric.

Why should I air-dry my fabric?
Air-drying your fabric and your finished quilts will help maintain their bright colors, strength, and useful life. Heat and tumbling in the dryer beats up the fabric, softens the fibers, and dulls the colors. This may be good for a pair of blue jeans, but not for your favorite quilt. All that fuzz you have been removing from the lint screen is cotton fiber that rubbed off the fabric. With this in mind, you may also want to air dry your favorite clothing.

Why do you tear the fabric when taking yardage off the bolt?
Tearing the fabric ensures that a “cut” is on grain – notice that we add a few extra inches to make-up for the torn edges. Fabric is seldom rolled onto the bolt exactly on grain and cutting may actually leave you short on yardage. Some bolts have been as much as six inches off grain. If the fabric is cut from the bolt, the off grain portion may not yield usable strips. Losing six inches off each side of a half yard cut, leaves you with only a sixth of a yard of useable fabric – not a very good value. When quiltmaking, it is important to cut your pieces on grain to prevent frayed edges and distorted blocks.