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CHAPTER PREPARING AND CUTTING FABRIC
Prepare Fabric
Before you cut and sew your fabric, decide if you need to prewash it to prevent the color from running
or bleeding. Most high-quality quilting cottons will not need to be prewashed, but you should prewash
highly saturated red, blue, and purple fabrics (especially batiks). Non-commercial hand-dyed fabrics
and flannels (because they shrink so much) should also be prewashed.
Test for colorfastness.
Cut a square of the fabric you want to test and a square of
white fabric in the same size. Soak them in soapy water for
a few minutes, remove them, and place them right sides
together to dry. If any color transfers onto the white fabric,
you know you’ll need to prewash. Out of white fabric? Iron
your wet test fabric between paper towels instead.
1
Prewash your fabric if needed.
If you decide to prewash, prewash all the fabric you plan to
use in the same quilt. If machine washing, clip the corners of
fabric to prevent raveling. Wash in cold water using a mild
detergent such as Orvis Quilt Soap or Tide Free.
2
Clip corners before
prewashing fabric
Press and starch the fabric if you plan to use it immedi-
ately. If not, store it without pressing.
You can starch just the front of your fabric while ironing, or
soak your fabric in a mixture that’s half water and half starch
(such as Sta-Flo), and then air-dry and press. If you plan on
hand piecing or hand quilting, do not starch.
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