Monday, July 14, 2008

To wash or Not to wash, that is the Question?

As much as I love a freshly quilted quilt, the only thing better to me is the same quilt after washing. I just love the crinkles, and the softness. But the dilemma for me is, does everyone appreciate them like I do?

Just for the fun of it I decided to wash my latest quilt and take before and after pictures of the quilt to see how it looks without being able to actually touch it.

This quilt I am calling Country Garden. It is from Quick and Easy Romantic Quilts by Sandy Berry. This is a terrific book with a lot of fun quilts to make in it. I've made two of them as shop samples, and the patterns were great! I used warm and natural batting in this one, and backed it with a nice brown cotton. None of the fabrics were pre-washed. I used aurefil thread (another recommendation, love it!) I quilted it with my hearts and loops. Looks really good I think!

Overall - before washing:

Overall - after washing

Close-up before washing:

Close-up after washing:

Not too much difference in the overall view, but the close-ups really show the difference! I love how beautiful and soft it looks, very touchable! I think I will work on pre-washing some of the baby quilts I have for sale on Etsy, they just seem so much more lovable to me when they are washed, plus they are ready to wrap around the baby! Fabric, I'm not going to pre-wash, but quilts, I think so, now.

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