Wash before or after binding?

All cotton will wrinkle a bit, but some are worse than others. What was it
like when you prewashed? Or didn't you? Is this my chance to say "I told you
so"?? Some cheaper cottons are given lots of sizing so they look nice and
smooth on the bolt, but when the sizing washes out, they don't have enough
body (what we've been calling a nice hand) to remain reasonably flat.
Roberta in D

"Sharon Harper" wrote in message
u...
I usually wash after binding but feel it is a personal choice. To the
subject line however, I recently washed my Spring Sue quilt and found that
the calico backing and background has wrinkled unbelieveably. Even after
ironing it is still very wrinkly. Is this a common thing or do I just
have
a dodgy batch? It was fine before washing.

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU) (getting ready to get out the
spray
starch)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"BarbQuilts" wrote in message
...
I have always sewn on both sides of the binding and then washed my
quilts
to
get some puckering. A couple of my quilting friends are washing their
quilts before they attach the binding at all. (My fabric and backing
are
already prewashed, but not the batting.)

I am curious what you all do.


--
Barb Quilts aka Barb C
.
.

If you did it right, it won't fall apart in the washing machine or dryer. At
least not for many years. I do mine at 40 C (lukewarm), tumble dry until
damp, pull gently to straighten if necessary, and finish drying over the top
of the 6-line clothesline. Use gentle detergent (for wool, or Orvus, or
Ivory flakes) and throw in a dye magnet just in case.
Roberta in D

"C. Mathews" wrote in message
...
In this same vein, I was wondering how to wash my quilt. Can it be put in
the washer??? Will the seams break if it is spun dry..How about the
dryer.
I sure wouldn't relish getting it all done and then messing up.
I prewashed all my material, but not the Warm and Natural. Should I have?
How about when it gets dirty...how do you all do it?
Carla
"BarbQuilts" wrote in message
...
I have always sewn on both sides of the binding and then washed my
quilts
to
get some puckering. A couple of my quilting friends are washing their
quilts before they attach the binding at all. (My fabric and backing
are
already prewashed, but not the batting.)

I am curious what you all do.


--
Barb Quilts aka Barb C
.
.








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I can't imagine washing BEFORE binding.

Sairey (who also prewashes the fabric (every bit of it), but not the
batting -- like the puckers)

BarbQuilts wrote:

I have always sewn on both sides of the binding and then washed my quilts to
get some puckering. A couple of my quilting friends are washing their
quilts before they attach the binding at all. (My fabric and backing are
already prewashed, but not the batting.)

I am curious what you all do.

Depends on the quilt, of course.

Mine are all cotton (including the batt, which I don't pre-wash),
stitched with cotton thread, usually (but not always) have "invisible"
quilting thread on the top.

I USED to be a bit of a "purist" about it all, with the Orvus soap, the
laying the quilt out on the grass (sheet underneath, sheet on top), and
all that.

Now, I just toss the quilt in the washing machine, COLD water (just
never tried the other temps, for a quilt ... but can't see why "warm"
wouldn't work, too). And I dry them in the DRYER (they come out
PERFECTLY "puckered" ... I like the look).

Grins,

Sairey (no longer a purist, for MY quilts, anyway -- I make them to be
used, I USE them (which means they get dirty -- especially the one on my
couch, where I put my bare feet up ), and I WASH them! And I tell the
recipients that they can, too!)

C. Mathews wrote:

In this same vein, I was wondering how to wash my quilt. Can it be put in
the washer??? Will the seams break if it is spun dry..How about the dryer.
I sure wouldn't relish getting it all done and then messing up.
I prewashed all my material, but not the Warm and Natural. Should I have?
How about when it gets dirty...how do you all do it?
Carla
"BarbQuilts" wrote in message
...

I have always sewn on both sides of the binding and then washed my quilts

to

get some puckering. A couple of my quilting friends are washing their
quilts before they attach the binding at all. (My fabric and backing are
already prewashed, but not the batting.)

I am curious what you all do.


--
Barb Quilts aka Barb C
.
.









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-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

I prewash all my fabric, but not batting, before I use it. I also wash
all my quilts after binding. I often use Crayola washable markers for
marking, so I need to wash to remove the markings. I also want to wash
out any oil that my hands left on the quilt or other soiling that may
have occurred while I was working on the quilt. I would hesitate to
wash before binding before binding unless the edges are securely
finished with a zigzag or serger. I wash in the machine with regular
detergent and dry in the dryer.

Julia in MN
--
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

http://mail.chartermi.net/~jaccola/

LOL, thanks Kevin, I needed that!

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"KCK" wrote in message
...
Sharon,

All the newly made quilts we see in those pattern magazines and at quilt
shows are pristine, have perfectly flat bindings, and give us the
impression that our quilts are supposed to look like that too. We spend
all that time on our quilt tops, pressing along the way, making sure
that every seam is flat, the whole time, falling in love with this
"unnaturally" flat creation. We put the sandwich together, quilt it,
and then apply the binding (oh, how lovely the binding looks, like a
perfect satin ribbon surrounding our treasure), but all of a sudden,
following a baptism in the washing machine, it's all wrinkly, crinkly,
puckery, or whatever.

I think what we're seeing out of the wash is the way it's SUPPOSED to
look! It's a quilt! We don't expect the seams on our denim jeans (do
you call them jeans over there?) to remain as flat as the day we bought
them once they've come out of the wash.

Nuff said....however, I'm still not convinced that I'm doing it
correctly.

--

KCK ( in Texas)
Take out the DOG before sending email

Website: http://kckintz.home.att.net/


"Sharon Harper" wrote in message
u...
I usually wash after binding but feel it is a personal choice. To the
subject line however, I recently washed my Spring Sue quilt and found
that
the calico backing and background has wrinkled unbelieveably. Even
after
ironing it is still very wrinkly. Is this a common thing or do I just
have
a dodgy batch? It was fine before washing.

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU) (getting ready to get out the
spray
starch)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"BarbQuilts" wrote in message
...
I have always sewn on both sides of the binding and then washed my
quilts
to
get some puckering. A couple of my quilting friends are washing
their
quilts before they attach the binding at all. (My fabric and
backing are
already prewashed, but not the batting.)

I am curious what you all do.


--
Barb Quilts aka Barb C
.
.

But, but, mine hasn't actually shrunk - it looks like one of those wrinkle
puppies (Shar Pei's??), the calico has GROWED!!

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"Dumpling" wrote in message
...
Hi

Some creations you see in magazines use unwashed fabrics and battings.
I think the reason for this is that if you make a quilt then wash it
and it goes crumply it doesn't photograph well. If many of the quilts
in the magazine look crumpled they will be less appealing to the
potential maker therefore selling less magazines.

A quilt made before any washing (top, batting or backing) makes for a
wonderfully smooth quilt that photographs beautifully.

The crinkling is due to cotton shrinkage. Average about 5% in the
first wash. So if you want minimal shrinkage crinkle, wash before you
sew and the includes the batting.

...Fran...

PS. I don't wash before for magazine projects, but always for
personal things.

_______________________________________________

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 15:14:05 +1000, "Sharon Harper"
wrote:

I usually wash after binding but feel it is a personal choice. To the
subject line however, I recently washed my Spring Sue quilt and found
that
the calico backing and background has wrinkled unbelieveably. Even after
ironing it is still very wrinkly. Is this a common thing or do I just
have
a dodgy batch? It was fine before washing.

Aaaaah! 'splains what a nice hand is!

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"Roberta Zollner" wrote in message
...
All cotton will wrinkle a bit, but some are worse than others. What was it
like when you prewashed? Or didn't you? Is this my chance to say "I told
you
so"?? Some cheaper cottons are given lots of sizing so they look nice and
smooth on the bolt, but when the sizing washes out, they don't have enough
body (what we've been calling a nice hand) to remain reasonably flat.
Roberta in D

"Sharon Harper" wrote in message
u...
I usually wash after binding but feel it is a personal choice. To the
subject line however, I recently washed my Spring Sue quilt and found
that
the calico backing and background has wrinkled unbelieveably. Even
after
ironing it is still very wrinkly. Is this a common thing or do I just
have
a dodgy batch? It was fine before washing.

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU) (getting ready to get out the
spray
starch)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"BarbQuilts" wrote in message
...
I have always sewn on both sides of the binding and then washed my
quilts
to
get some puckering. A couple of my quilting friends are washing their
quilts before they attach the binding at all. (My fabric and backing
are
already prewashed, but not the batting.)

I am curious what you all do.


--
Barb Quilts aka Barb C
.
.

Did you prewash the batting?

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 08:04:30 +1000, "Sharon Harper"
wrote:

But, but, mine hasn't actually shrunk - it looks like one of those wrinkle
puppies (Shar Pei's??), the calico has GROWED!!

You do that? Oops! Never mind, I quite like the wrinkled look. Anyways
wouldnt' the batting fall apart?

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"Dumpling" wrote in message
...
Did you prewash the batting?

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 08:04:30 +1000, "Sharon Harper"
wrote:

But, but, mine hasn't actually shrunk - it looks like one of those
wrinkle
puppies (Shar Pei's??), the calico has GROWED!!