It is generally agreed that the use of 100% cotton fabric is best for making a patchwork quilt, particularly if it is
going to be laundered. It is also commonly recommended that your fabric is pre-washed before being cut and sewn. The
reason for this is to allow for possible shrinkage and to check that your fabric is colourfast.
Avoiding Cloth Shrinkage
Shrinkage is much more of an issue when you are dealing with large pieces of fabrics joined together with long seams,
such as in dressmaking. In patchwork you are mostly sewing together small pieces of fabric so it is unlikely that a
small amount of shrinkage will cause any real problems. Shrinkage is more likely to be an issue with the wadding and
you should check whether you need to pre-wash your wadding before use. However, a lot of quilters deliberately avoid
pre-washing their wadding and actually hope for a little shrinkage as it can add an antique look and feel to the
finished quilt.
Testing Colour Fastness
Another way of checking whether a fabric is colourfast is to dampen the fabric, lay it on a piece of white cotton and
press with an iron to see if the colour transfers onto the white fabric.
Most modern quilting fabric should be colourfast and always remember that no fabric will retain its colour forever.
Colours fade over time as they are used and exposed to light.
Pre-Wash
In their book 'The Art of Classic Quiltmaking', Harriet Hargrave and Sharyn Craig provide a detailed discussion on the
pros and cons of pre-washing. The emphasis at the end of the day is that you should decide for yourself, which you
prefer. Harriet Hargrave advises that her preference is to use the fabric in its new, crisp and unwashed form. This is
particularly so when she wants to recreate a quilt as it would have been sewn for example in the 1930s.
Sharyn Craig prefers to pre-wash all of her fabric as she enjoys working with the fabric in its softer post-washed
state. She also finds that washed fabric has a tendency to cling better to the design wall she uses when creating
complicated patchwork designs.