Most quilters have a very strong opinion about it. Those who don't pre-wash like that little bit of sizing that's in the fabric. And people who primarily make wall hangings, like Susan K. Cleveland, know they'll be making art that won't be washed, so use it straight off the bolt.
I on the other hand, fall into the pre-wash camp. I figure that if the fabric is going to shrink, I'd like to know that before I spend my time sewing the piece. However (you know there's always a catch), when I pre-wash, it get these dreadful thread nests.
It looks kind of pretty, but when you have to stand there with scissors cutting it all apart, it can be a real pain. I read somewhere that if you just clip off a corner from the fabric, you'll be nest free. Before you try that; take if from me that it's one of those things that sound too good to be true and thus does not work.
Now we get to my brilliant friend Abbe from book club. Oops! We don't call ourselves 'book club' any more, we're the Magpie Quilters (magpies like things that are shiny and are hoarders - while we consider ourselves "collectors" rather than "hoarders", it's just really semantics isn't it?). Sorry, I digress...back to Abbe; she told us at our last meeting that if you use pinking shears (like the ones your friend Sally may have given you) (well, she gave them to me; not so sure about you) (did I just re-digress??) on the raw edges i.e., not the selvages, you won't get the dreaded thread nest.
As you can see; it worked!! I can live with those few stray threads. I was so happy with the results that I wanted to share. Give it a try and see what you think.
Hope you like this idea. Any tip that makes it easier to complete a project is a tip worth sharing!
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