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Shrinkage when Quilting Batiks


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Shrinkage is based primarily on the loft of the batting, backing, the density of your quilting and how the finished quilt is washed.  Warm and Natural does not have a lot of loft to it and neither does a batik back, so it's down to the density of your quilting and washing.   If everything is flat and you quilting is maybe 1-1/2" apart, you might figure 1/2" shrinkage for every 36" of quilt.  More dense quilting, and I might figure an 1" for every 36".  If I have a 12" block that has 1-1/2"" of fullness, compared to the sashing, I can quilt the block quite densely, like maybe every 1/4" and it will lay flat when quilted.  The washing is a personal thing.  Some people like to shrink them up good.  Did I answer your question?

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What do I mean when I say a block has 1-1/2" of fullness?  We try to make our quilts lay flat, but not all quilts lay nice and flat.  Sometimes a block is larger than what it's supposed to be.  It may have got stretched during the pressing process, or there was lots of piecing and the seams were less than 1/4" and when sashing is attached it's stretched to fit, or the sashing was too short.  The end result is somewhat of a bubble where the block is.  By first  keeping the sashings straight you can then divide and conquer the fullness in the block and the end result is everything squared up and laying flat.  I love the channel locks on my Millie for keeping the sashings straight.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks Heidi for your information.  Your information was helpful, but I am sorry to say my math sucks.  I have CompuQuilter on my machine and I am trying to stay within the 1/4 seam allowance and also to save another 1/4 allowance to that so that my edge-to-edge design is not right up beside the 1/4 seam allowance.

 

 My quilt is 78.5 inches x 94.5 inches quiltable space.  I can figure out that the 1/2 inch shrinkage for every 36 inch of quilt would be 1 inch of shrinkage, but then there is that extra 7 inches I don't know how to figure.  So I guess what I am trying to find out now is how do you come up with the total amount of shrinkage for both the width and length at 1 1/2" shrinkage for every 36" of quilt?  This is not the same quilt I was working with earlier.  This quilt looks like it is pieced with Moda fabric or something similar and 100% Cotton Mountain Mist batting.  The pieced quilt is pretty heavy.

 

Thanks so much for your help.

Carol

Rogers, AR

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I just did a quilt that was scrappy so lots of different cottons...all quilting cottons though...after piecing it was 92 X 105...after quilting and washing, it ended up being 88 X 100...so I lost 4 inches in width and 5 inches in length.  Most of the cottons were not pre-washed although some were as it was scrappy and I used to wash all my fabrics before using them... I usually don't wash my fabrics before using anymore because of the pre-cuts I use sometimes.  I think it would be really hard to figure out how much a quilt is going to shrink  as there are so many variables,  This quilt is going to be used on a bed so when I washed it, I washed it in warm water.  I did hang it out on the clothes line though and it did not go into the dryer.  I have started to keep a log with the quilt size before and after quilting and washing, the threads I use, and the batting I used.  Lin

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