If you are making placemats, then pre-wash or make it 15-20% bigger, & when it shrinks ( & if it's cotton, it will) it will be just about right. If you use all the same fabric in a project (this means top batting & backing)ie: all cotton, all poly-cottonblend etc. then it should all shrink together, but if you are mixing fabrics like polyester & cotton, or flanelette, then you will have problems. Flanelette shrinks more than reg cotton sew whatever you are making wash it first, if you make something with poly & with cotton, poly doesn't shrink but as you know cotton does, sew your finished project once washed will be distorted. If your going to make something out of 100% cotton & do any hand quilting then it is recommended that you do wash it, as it is harder to stitch through the "sizing" that all fabric has. This "sizing" is sort of like scotch guard, it is supposed to keep the fabric clean & some what stiff for presentation to us the consumer. Do I personally wash my cottons first, Flanelette, YES, cotton for quilts, me NO, my choice is this because I mostly machine quilt my quilts. I wear white gloves while I work! Not a chance, sew any "sizing"that is on the fabric helps to keep it "clean" while I work. If your only buying fat quarters use the serged ends in your seams when you put your pcs together, (&if you decide to wash it put it in a longerie bag)I have 3 Block of the month quilts that I am doing now & I get 5.5" strips xWOF (width of fabric) & I don't wash any of them. It also makes it easier to cut & pc small pcs together. Its crisp. Sorry that this is sewlong but I hope that it's helpful! The more you do, the more you can decide what works best for you!Water repellent cotton, well I don't know about that, mens dockers (pants) are w-r but they are a heavier weight cotton, not quilter's cotton.If it's 100% quilter's cotton then it is definately washable! & not likely w-r.I have recently posted a quilt top that I just finished, feel free to check it out, I didn't wash any of that fabric either. Hugs Loralye

Happy Quilting!
From Bev

Nadyne, this is one of those questions that will produce many different answers and in the end you have to pick what works best for you. I have been quilting for only 15 years and I wash everything. Moda, batiks, doesn't matter, it gets washed, dryed and ironed. I use spray starch when I iron and fold salvage to salvage. However you decide to do it, just remember to have fun and there are "no quilt police"! Carol

If you don't wash first you may want to wash the project in cold water to reduce the shrinkage. Oregon Patchworks, Inc. has a feature by hallett House Designs for a block of the month and is producing documents called Basic Quilting 101 that can be downloaded. I have found them very interesting. They are up to lesson 2. All back ones can also be downloaded. Sign up for the newsletter and you get notices.

I used to wash all my fabrics. It does depend on the look you want. If you wash everything, batting, backing, binding and pieced fabrics, then your finished project should stay fairly crip looking. I wash my fat quarters by swishing them around in the sink and then spinning them out in the washer. After which I would iron them dry. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your items in the project section!

I do wash my fat quarters. I serger around the raw edges with a long 4.0 length stitch but I don't cut any off. After it's washed I remove the serging threads before I iron it but that can be done while watching tv. That long stitch just comes out easily. I don't use a lot of fat quarters so it isn't a really big "pain" to remove the stitching. By not trimming any of the fabric off, I haven't lost any of the "precious stuff"! Good luck.