Pleasant Valley Farm
Thank you for tip to edge stitch before pre-washing. That worked much better for me than cutting the 45-degree angle. Th edge stitching dramatically reduced fraying. Well worth the effort.
Kathy

You're welcome Kathy. It does make a big difference.
Cutting the corners (45 degree) works very well for standard quilting cotton. But shot cotton is a little different.
Susan

Pleasant Valley Farm
Thank you for tip to edge stitch before pre-washing. That worked much better for me than cutting the 45-degree angle. Th edge stitching dramatically reduced fraying. Well worth the effort.
Kathy

I also cut the 45 degree angle, the washed in a machine with an agitator and had a tangled mess. Luckily, I only did a few colors. Wish I had seen your post before I washed.!!!

I wash fabrics to get the sizing out and pre-shrink. I haven't sewn with shot cotton or hand-dyed. I prewashed fabric for my daughter's quilt. I needed to wash it again, but the batting shrunk causing the top and back to pucker. I wonder if it would be fine if I hadn't prewashed the top fabric and backing.
With this project I'm going to do a test run with washing one color.
When I didn't worry about color loss, I just soaked the fabric in hot water for about 15 minutes or so (not using washing machine). I'm not sure what I'll eventually do with this fabric.

PleasantValleyFarm, thanks for your washing update.

No problem cutting the shot cotton lengthwise--meaning you are cutting parallel to the selvedge. Still cut 3.5" strips to start with from all but the charcoal and white and background fabrics. When you run out of one color, just cut another strip.

You are not weird, just very much in the minority about tearing away the paper. Go for it!

I just got my kit yesterday. YEAH!! Washed everything last night. I did edge-stitch about 1/16" on all raw edges and had very little loose threads or tangles.

Pressing did take a long time with the Shot Cottons. Reminds me of pressing linen. Easy to deal with...just more time.

I plan to cut my strips on the grainline vs. cross-grain. Reason: Quite a few of the colors will loose a lot of yardage if I try to square the fabric before cutting the strips. I don't think there will be much difference in the end result. Only the shot cottons have this issue. (When it comes to the road and background fabrics I will follow the rules.)
Barbara: If you foresee anything negative doing this, please let me know.

I LOVE paper-piecing and will do the traditional method where you stitch through the paper and have to tear it away. I find the tearing it away process relaxing. (Does that make me weird???) LOL

kfoster183, I am sorry you had problems with pre-washing the fabric. I did not have that situation with my kit. There is sufficient fabric in the kit that you will not run out.

Each person will have to decide if they want to pre-wash. Your experience may help someone else decide to hand wash the darkest pieces to see if there is color loss.

I don’t like to complain but.... I got my kit yesterday and was so excited. Came too late to start so got up early and divided fabric into light and dark.Used ruler to trim a 45 degree angle on the corners. Took to washing machine, which has an agitator and set machine to cold, delicate least amount of time. Added a color catcher. After 6 minutes load stopped. Opened top and fabric was in a wadded ball. The unraveling was terrible. Got scissors and started to untangle the mess. Put in dryer on low for 15 minutes. Have now spent almost 3 hours pressing and trimming the sides. Looks like I lost at least 1/2 inch of fabric on each side. I had never used shot cotton before and usually don’t prewash quality cottons. Did not do the darks. Wished I had not prewashed. Everyone will have to decide for themselves. Feel like I paid money for a trash can full of fiber. Use your best judgement. Looking forward to beginning houses. Hope it goes better than step one

I generally don't prewash but am planning to do so this time. I purchased dye catchers. I ordered the kit a couple of days ago, so I have to wait for the arrival.
I checked my sewing machine and did not have a single hole needle plate which my quilt shop did not have in stock and ordered for me. You would think that the four
sewing machines that I have and I couldn't find the correct plate.

Ron

setaylor1 wrote:
Setaylor1, Every quilter has their own reasons for washing or not washing. You can read the numerous posts on the topic with regards to this project. I would say, if you normally
do not wash wall hangings, and figure if anything weird happened like smoke damage, flood damage, etc. and you had to wash it and it bleed, you knew you took that chance and would not be upset with yourself. It is a lot of hours of work. I always go with better safe than sorry. HelenW

I generally do not wash fabric that is being used in a wall hanging. Is this absolutely necessary if I do not plan to wash the quilt?

I had the same problem.

beagle wrote:
I had some color on the Color Catchers, but not a lot. Some people wash with Hot water, they may have more. Most manufacturers are now saying to wash in Cold water.

I hardly ever prewash fabric. I test them before to see if they run by laying a wet piece on white cotton. I have never used short cotton before and am unaware of the colorfastness of this line. You washed them, did you find a lot of bleed with the kit fabrics