Prewash your quilting fabric? Yes!

I am a prewasher.  Every piece of quilter’s cotton fabric that comes into my house is staged in the kitchen for prewashing by hand.  I do it in a special white plastic basin, reserved for that purpose, and I do it methodically and thoroughly.

I am NOT a fabric dyer and my methods are those of an average quilter who likes to use reliable fabric.

Here are the details of why I prewash and how I do it.  This is all based on my experience in quilting since 1976.  I like to prewash so that there are NO SURPRISES when the quilt is finished.  And for other reasons, too.

Remember, this is all based on my own experience and if your experience is different then I’m sure you’ll use your own judgment.  Every time I see this topic discussed in an open forum on the internet I see a variety of opinions.  Here’s mine!

Why prewash?

1.  You want the fabric to pretty much shrink as much as it’s going to before you put it in the quilt.  It may shrink more, over time, but you also want that shrinkage to be at the same rate for all pieces.  I like the vintage “crinkled” look, but I forego that for a consistency in shrinkage and more control.  For the optimum result, put the damp fabric in the dryer.  I admit that I hang mine to dry occasionally, especially in the summer when it will dry quickly in the sun.  Again, I’m sacrificing what a hot dryer will do for the fun in the sun.  And hold that thought because we will come back to the dryer issue.

[Note:  See separate discussion on flannel fabrics in blog post https://fiberstothehome.blogspot.com/2020/12/flannel-fuzzy-love.html ]

2.  You want the fabric to shed as much color as it’s going to before you put it in the quilt. 

This is a complex issue.  Basically:

                Sometimes a fabric just needs to shed a little color and then it’s fine.

                Sometimes a fabric needs to shed a LOT of color over a wash and 

                several rinsings and then it’s fine.

                Sometimes a fabric bleeds with every wash/rinse and then you need 

                to decide whether to set the color or discard the fabric.

More on this, below.

 3.  You want to get rid of any finishing chemicals that the manufacturer has put on it, to make the fabric look nice on the bolt.

 These finishing chemicals will prevent fusible webbing and other glues from adhering reliably.

 You do NOT want to give a quilt to a baby with a mystery finishing chemical on it.

 Your skin is your largest organ!  And it absorbs chemicals.  Handling unwashed               fabric for piecing or quilting gives that chemical an opportunity to soak into your body, too.

I wash each piece by hand in the hottest water that comes out of the tap and with a small amount of blue Dawn dishwashing liquid.  If you are sensitive to the finishing chemicals, use dishwashing gloves.  I don’t.  But I rinse my hands well.

         Tip:  Most hot water tank temperature settings are between 120 and 140 degrees. 

If you have children or elders in the house who might scald themselves 

on the hottest water, use a setting in the lower part of that range.

Checking the temperature setting on your hot water tank is relatively easy 

and you should learn to do it. 

 4.  Here’s the reason that most people don’t talk about:  Flea eggs.

 If you acquire fabric from a household, an estate, or the guild “free table”, you will not know if it has an insect infestation.     

So wash it.

If the previous owner says that it has been prewashed, wash it yourself, anyway.

How I do it:

           1.  I wash each piece of fabric separately, in a dedicated plastic basin.  

           The kind you wash dishes by hand in.  Buy a couple.

After a while the basin will become stained with the dye and then you can repurpose

it for something else, like gardening.

2.  Of course, I need to change the water frequently.  So I tend to prewash “white” 

or “off white” fabric first (because it has no dye!).  After I take it out of the hot 

water/Dawn solution, I either rinse it under the running tap or immerse it in another 

basin full of plain water.  Then I can reuse the first basin of water for the next color.

3.  If you put more than one fabric in the same wash (like 3-4 pieces of green) and ONE of them bleeds, you won’t know which one.  So do each piece individually.  It’s not tedious.  Just do it.

4.  If a piece of fabric bleeds a little, rinse it as many times as it takes to get the water to come out clear.  Remember, in the first wash with the Dawn, the fabric remains wet and the water and dye particles trapped in the weave of the fabric need to be rinsed out.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that it is still shedding color; you just need to rinse, rinse, rinse until the suspended dye is gone.

5.  After four or five rinses, if the fabric is still shedding a lot of color, it’s time to decide whether to set the color.

Use a liquid chemical product called Retayne.  Buy some and have it on hand.  Follow the bottle directions.  Wear protective gloves if you need to.  This product will very likely SAVE YOUR EXPENSIVE FABRIC and you will be happy.

Occasionally, I find that the first wash with Retayne pulls more color out of the fabric than I expected.  But I keep treating it and rinsing it.  Yes, I have had to treat it with Retayne twice.

Note:  IN MY EXPERIENCE, fabric manufactured offshore tends to bleed LESS than fabric manufactured in the US.

Another Note:  Don’t use vinegar.  That is largely an old wives’ tale.  100 years ago fabric dyes had different chemical formulas and maybe it worked then.  But DON’T let some well meaning person tell you that it works on modern dyes or that they use it all the time.  Focus on gaining your own experience.  Use Retayne.  Buy it at your local quilt shop or from a fabric dyeing specialty store.

           And yet Another Note:  Don’t wash the fabric in your washing machine. 

You can’t observe how the fabric is shedding dye and the cut ends of your fabric will               start to fray and get tangled.  There is NO convenience to this.  Do it by hand.

6.  I squeeze the water out of the fabric and let it drain in a loose ball – sometimes 

overnight – but long enough to get it down to the “damp” rather than “sopping” stage. 

If I have a BIG piece of fabric, like yardage, I might put it in my washing machine on               the spin-only cycle to get the bulk of the water out of it.  Then put it in the dryer –                       your experience will tell you how long to set the dryer timer. 

 Yes, I admit that once in a while I press fabric dry with an iron.  Scraps or fat quarters.

 Putting the fabric in the dryer is more effective for pre-shrinking than hanging it to                     air dry. Both the hot water wash and the drying process contribute to pre-shrinking.  

 DON’T mix fabrics, if you can help it, in the dryer.  If you put a piece of light colored                and a piece of dark colored fabric in the dryer together, there is some risk that the                    darker color will migrate to the lighter fabric.  So do them separately.

 If I have a collection of pink fabrics, for example, I will wash them all separately and                probably dry them together.  Low risk.

This process that I use has the advantage of making sure that each piece of fabric in my “studio” is ready to use!  I never have to guess if it has been prewashed because I know it has!  I take the processed fabric and put it in a carefully curated pile…to be pressed and put into bins with like fabrics. 

This is also the reason that I rarely use precuts – they are time consuming to wash.  But I do it when I need to.  And I’m more likely to hang the precuts to dry or dry flat.

When I give a quilt to someone I advise them to use color catchers in the washer the first time they launder the quilt, just to be safe.  But I have already prewashed the fabrics so I’m confident that there won’t be a problem. 

Note:  An 80/20 or 70/30 batting will have significantly less shrinkage than a 100% cotton batting.  So if you like the crinkled look, use that 100% cotton.

Note again:  If you like the “stiffness” of the fabric as it comes off the bolt, prewash it and then apply a fabric finish product of your own as you press and cut it for the quilt.   

This is how I do it.  Every time.  This process gives me confidence that I won’t have a sad story to tell about fabric bleeding in a quilt that is washed for the first time.  No panic stricken attempts to get migrated dye out of a quilt.  Prevention is the best method!  Now, I’m going back to quilting! 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Beyond!

Happy holidays to all the quilters and quilt-appreciators out there!  

Let's quilt the world in 2022!

Skagit County Fair 2021 - August 11-14

We were able to have a county fair this year!  With lots of COVID protocols in place and the county health department on site for advice and counsel. 

So here are my entries - ribbons all around! 

This is all scrappy Christmas fabric in the Garlic Knots pattern 

from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. 

I named this quilt "I Yust go Knots at Christmas" but you have to be in my generation and raised on Seattle children's TV shows to understand that reference!

Red ribbon.

This is all 2" squares!  Pattern is Lucettia by Rebecca Mae Designs. 

I fussy cut some cat fabric into it...no surprise there...so the name of this quilt is

"Lucettia con i Gatti". 

Blue ribbon.

I love this quilted bolster pillow made with artwork from a little friend, Gracie,

who was (I think) 6 at the time she drew these great cats for me. 

The judge loved it, too.  Best of Class. 

No pattern. 

This is a Swedish-style "peg bag"! 

Conical in shape, it also has a nice flat bottom (reinforced with Timtex)

to hold clothespins and a swivel clip on top to attach it to the clothesline. 

The sides and bottom are quilted, too. 

Blue ribbon and "Merit" ribbon. 

Original pattern based on traditional concept. 

These happy little walking cats are walking towards dinner!

Great use of jelly roll strips with a solid background insert

to highlight the kitties. 

No pattern. 

Red ribbon.

Thanks for taking a look at my fair entries.  After a year at home in isolation, I had lots of pieces to choose from for the fair and these were the ones I wanted people to see!

 

Flannel - Fuzzy Love!

I have seen a lot of posts and questions lately about using cotton flannel in quilting – and I used some, myself!

So here are some observations that I have about flannel that you may find helpful.

Cotton flannel is notoriously a low thread count fabric.  Not a high thread count like quality woven cottons that we use for quilting.  Which is why it is NOT recommended for face masks. 

Even the good quality flannels sold at your local quilt shop have a lower count fabric than woven cottons.  Flannels purchased at a discount store are often VERY loosely woven.

Flannel also sheds a lot of fiber/fuzz in the process of using it.  So, it needs special attention when used in a quilt.  The process of making flannel, and making it soft and fuzzy, brushes the fibers to bring up the nap.  So that works both for you and against you.

Prewashing

Cotton flannel shrinks more than high quality woven cottons.  So, it is really important to prewash flannel AND it is a good idea to wash and dry it twice!  Flannel keeps shrinking past the first wash.  It is the hot water/air and the agitation of the washer and the dryer that causes the shrinking.  You want to do as much shrinking (and get rid of any escaping color) before it goes in your quilt.

And guess what?  That means you need to buy a little MORE flannel than you would quilting cotton for the same application.  You’re going to lose some inches in the shrinking process.

Some people recommend a lingerie bag, but I think that severely limits the agitation of the fabric and in this case agitation is good.  Think about fulling wool fabric and the benefits of the agitation in that process.

When you put flannel on the back of a quilt and woven cottons on the front, flannel shrinks more than woven cottons so the back can end up smaller than the front.

Likewise, when you combine flannel and woven cotton pieces on the top of the quilt, flannel will shrink more than the woven cottons and leave your quilt top design askew.

It’s best, if you want to use flannel on the top, to use ALL flannel on the top so it will all shrink at the same rate at the same time, each time it’s washed.

That said, if you want to combine both types of fabric, just be aware of how it will behave after a few washings/dryings.  Most people use patterns with larger pieces when sewing with flannel, just to avoid struggling with tiny, loosely woven pieces and risking the shrinkage distortion. 

Stretchy

The looser weave/lower thread count of flannel will make it much stretchier than woven quilting cottons.  When you press it prior to cutting, take care not to distort the yardage or the individual pieces.  Move your iron up and down as we are taught, rather than scrubbing from side to side.

Should you starch or stabilize with a spray?  Maybe.  It might give you better results, especially if your pieces are getting small.  Try it.  If your flannel is nappy on only one side (as the lower grade flannels are), starch or apply a spray stabilizer from the back.

Seam Allowance

Plan to use a 3/8 or ½ inch seam allowance when piecing with flannel.  The looser weave can cause edges to fray more readily.

If you’re used to making garments with flannel, like pajama bottoms, you’re using a 5/8-inch seam allowance and you don’t notice the fragility much.  And you are likely serging or zig zagging the seam allowance.  But in quilting, the seam allowance stands alone and the loose weave of flannel needs a deeper seam.

Should you press seams open?  I am not a fan of open seams, unless you are bringing a number of seam allowances together in a point – which you are unlikely to do with flannel. 

Press to the side – here’s why:  Any tension placed on the completed quilt, like someone sitting on it on a bed, for example, will put tension on the seams.  If you have pressed them open, the seam can gap and the batting will show through.  With a loose weave like flannel, that damage can be permanent.  If you press the seam allowances to the side, any tension on the seam from above will still cause a little gap but only the fabric in the seam allowance will show through.  And it will be a lot more stable.   

Stitch Length for Piecing

If you make a piecing error, it’s going to be very difficult to pick out the stitches in flannel.  Try it some time.  A longer stitch length could work better for you.  If I’m using larger pieces of anything I usually bump up my stitch length to a 3.0, anyway.   But a longer stitch length also bumps up the risk of fraying.  You make the decision based on the quality of the flannel you’re using.  [And that extra length you bought might save the day if you need to cut a new piece…]

Keep your machine clean

Flannel sheds a lot of fuzz!  Plan to clean the bobbin area in your machine more often than you normally do.  If you can clean it every time you change a bobbin – or at least check that area and give it a quick wipe or vacuum, you’ll have better results.  A clogged bobbin case often leads to broken threads on the top and other wild stitches.

Thread

Using cotton thread for piecing or quilting should be just fine.  If you use polyester, I would stick with a good quality filament poly.   My opinion is that the tri-lobal polys are such a hard, sharp thread, that they could damage the softer flannel fibers. We will see if I am right in 10-15 years when we look at these flannels that are quilted with tri-lobal poly.

Needle

Some people find that they have better results sewing on flannel if they use a new needle.  I always piece and quilt with topstitch needles and change them often.  I like the extra sharpness and the bigger eye. 

Binding

Should you bind with flannel?  I wouldn’t.  Did you know that the binding on a quilt is the part that gets the most wear?  True.  That is why we bind with a double layer of good quality woven cotton.  Back in the day…we used to use a single layer for binding.  In the 1980’s the “French Fold” binding technique became popular; so popular, in fact, that no one even calls it that any more.  We just do it.  So the looser weave of the flannel defeats the purpose of having a durable binding.  Stick with high thread count woven cotton.

Try it!

These are the Threadmonger’s tips for quilting with flannel!  I used it recently for the back of a lap quilt for a wheelchair user.  The flannel on the back keeps the quilt in place more readily because of the grippy nature of the flannel’s nap.   I also used it to line a hand-warming pocket on the lap quilt.  I tested it and found it quite comfy!  There are lots of cute flannel prints available for you to play with and with these tips you’ll be feeling the fuzzy love!

QUILT LABEL CONTENT - IDEAS FOR YOU

QUILT LABEL CONTENT

There are thousands of web pages on how to create quilt labels but I want to discuss the content for a few minutes.

Way back in 1976, the American Bicentennial is really what regenerated our interest in quilting.  In fact, all traditional crafts and cooking methods got a boost.

At the time, every state put together a “quilt documentation project”.  Quilt historians and volunteers from all over each state got together and invited the public to bring antique or vintage quilts to be documented, photographed, and identified.  Most teams published books from their efforts.  The objective was to record the quilts typical of a state during the country’s history.  Patterns for the quilts could most often be recognized from published works.  Of course, there were a lot of variations. 

Most of the quilts had no real written record of who made them and where.  So the families owning the quilts did their best to bring anecdotal information about the quilt and the maker.  On the occasions where the quilt had been labeled, the documentation teams were THRILLED!  It was so much easier to identify a pattern, a trend, or a prolific quiltmaker with the label information.

From that documentation effort three basic needs emerged.  So these are the three MOST IMPORTANT things that you can put on a quilt label:

1.  Maker’s name.  Include the maiden name if necessary.  And in this modern time where we shop out many quilts to professional longarmers, add their name, too.

2.  Year the quilt was made.  By “made” we usually mean “finished”.  If the quilt took 10 years to make it is lovely to include that information. 

3.  The state in which the quilt was made. 

Any additional information on your label is delightful to have.  Who was the quilt made for?  Occasion?  What is the relationship between the giver and the receiver?  Pattern used?  City where the maker lived?  There are some real opportunities for you to give future quilt historians what they crave.

Finally, I like to add some “data” for myself.  Dimensions of the quilt, batting type, thread used, name of pattern, name of quilt, source of pattern, etc.  Mostly so I can remember but I think all information is welcome to a researcher somewhere in the future.

Quilt historians are as eager for hard, verifiable data as genealogists are!  So give them the best information about your quilt and feed their craving!  A quilt is, after all, a part of your personal legacy to the world.  Be as generous with your information as you are with your quilts.

Quilter's Entropy

When you get out a lot of quilting supplies for specific projects, and somehow the different elements drift off into other projects and spaces, and then you can't do the original project...

That's Quilter's Entropy.

I have it.  During this "all stop" and stay home order due to the pandemic, I thought, "I'll get out some projects that I have put together the ingredients for and do them."  HA!  Pieces of fabric, templates, fusible interfacing, stabilizer, thread, and patterns have all migrated out of those project boxes and into other realms. 

So, instead, I am making pleated face masks as fast as my stash will let me and administrating the distribution of masks in my community.  We have about 40 quilters making them and joyfully getting scraps and chunks of "Wonder Fabric" used up!  Our first few visits to the local quilt shops will be to replenish our stash and to reward ourselves for work well done. 

I hope everyone reading this is safe and well.  Quilters are important!

Skagit County Fair 2019!

I was on vacation during the Skagit County Fair this year, so my friend (and excellent quilter) Dianne Lowe entered my pieces and delivered them back to me!

I entered:

"Skagit Valley Honeybees" from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.  I used a blue-gray background fabric to represent the perennial gray skies of the Skagit Valley!  We have an active beekeeper's association group and I appreciate all they do to keep bees safe and buzzing.  Blue ribbon.

"Scrap Basket Cats" from a pattern by Kathy Love.  This was a UFO for me and I am so glad I completed it this year!  The original pattern uses four kitties - I wanted nine!  Red ribbon. But no photo of the ribbon...

Here's a secret:  I inked in the eyes and nose with a fabric marker.  No satin stitch for me!

"Christmas Angel Table Runner" from a pattern by Letitia Hutchings.  I had some Russian reproduction fabric that I had been hoarding, and got it out for this special runner.  It is always fun to use different threads for the different sections.  Table runners are a great place to experiment with threads!  Blue ribbon and Best of Class.

Oops, forgot to take a photo of the whole runner with the binding on...

Enter quilts in your local fair!  It's fun and you get good feedback from the judge.  And volunteer to help for a few hours or a day.  It's a great experience.  I usually do it but this year I was out of the country...

And THANKS to my friend, David Bricka, for the photos of the ribbons.