If you don't wash before you quilt?

[rere]

After a very tragic quilting experience I always wash my fabric before I use it.But now I'm thinking I would like to make one of those lovely puckered quilts and I know what went wrong in the past.But what I'm wondering is...does the backing fabric need to be the same kind as the top?

[cristeen]

If you're relying on the shrinkage of the fabric to provide the pucker, yes. But then it's always a good idea to only use 100% cotton on quilts to begin with.

That being said, you can pre-wash your fabric and still get your puckering... by using 100% cotton batting (instead of poly) that is not pre-shrunk. It will shrink the first time it is washed and pucker your quilt. I would think doing it that way would provide a more even pucker than relying on the fabric which is going to pucker at different rates and directions front and back anyway.

[rere]

Thanks!That makes sense.

[tinasquirrel]

Originally Posted by cristeen

If you're relying on the shrinkage of the fabric to provide the pucker, yes. But then it's always a good idea to only use 100% cotton on quilts to begin with.

That being said, you can pre-wash your fabric and still get your puckering... by using 100% cotton batting (instead of poly) that is not pre-shrunk. It will shrink the first time it is washed and pucker your quilt. I would think doing it that way would provide a more even pucker than relying on the fabric which is going to pucker at different rates and directions front and back anyway.

Ah-ha! That's why our quilts are puckered! I used 100% cotton, and pre-washed it for the front and back. But, I used cotton batting, and did not pre-wash that. The quilts have a really nice, puckered/homey appearance that I enjoy.