A new comment from “Janet Cumming” was received on the post “Why do you wash your fabrics.” of the weblog “Pam Holland Designs and Productions”.

Comment:
I agree with Caitlin. I love to free machine quilt, and enjoy the change in texture that occurs as the quilting progresses. I also expect that my quilts will get washed during use, so washing up front is good. I find the pigment ink works fine if you use some spray starch on the fabric before you apply it. And heavy quilting often means the fabric gets quite grotty during the quilting process. My quilts are often washed the first time before the quilting is finished. I also sometimes use rinse-away for the quilting template, so even more washing.

Thanks for the comment Janet, I appreciate it.
I have washed a few quilts…. (not many I might add) but it just depends on their use and of course how you quilt it. I imagine if you say the quilt gets "grotty" when you quilt, you must be quilting by hand….
There I bow out… I’ve never fully hand quilted a quilt, so I can’t comment on that.

When drappliqueing I use the sizing to assist the dispersal of the ink. The sizing also prevents the ink bleeding. Spray starch helps after the fabric is washed, but I have found that it makes the ink re-act more like paint and sit on the surface of the fabric rather than dye it.

However, there is no right or wrong way about fabric washing… you know there are as many ideas on quilting as there are Teachers…. !!!!