I never do.

And I always do, LOL.

It's strictly personal preference.

It also depends on if you made markings for the quilting stitches. I often wash a quilt to remove those markings and make it puff up a bit. I quilt it knowing it will be washed so I prewash fabric and make it stable and durable to survive a washing machine on gentle. A quilt you plan to always have on the wall and has lots of embellishment or fragile parts can have those markings removed with a wet sponge.
Linda

Thanks for this discussion. I tend to make wall/art quilts & have never tried washing them; I am nervous at the prospect of it.

I hope to be selling some crib quilts in the Spring & feel I'll need to wash them at least once (to make sure they hold up to it). Also I smoke, so I'd wash them to hopefully take off any residual tobacco odor. I expect I'd try the gentle cycle.

Do you all use the dryer or let them air dry? I don't really have anywhere to hang them dry, except maybe over the show bar. Hum...

I don't use the dryer. I spread them out flat on towels on floor or somewhere safe. They dry on their own. I stretch them a bit to make them flatter and to lay straight. You could pin the corners to the carpet if you wanted them to hold a shape. I have table runner and placemats that have been washed several times and you'd never know it.
Linda

I never pre-wash fabric, but alway wash the quilt after it's finished. I usually throw them over the shower rod to dry.

It just depends on what material I use. I also prefer to wash mine after working it up, mostly because I have a busy life-style and quilt with a hoop and the project is toted around with me and gets exposed to things like cats sitting on them and being draped out on floors. I also smoke, and it would be just something I'd do in case someone is sensitive to smoke.

I have done only scrappy quilts out of heavy materials like sheets, and I do functional, as opposed to arty quilts. I have been able to wash all my quiltwork in a machine and although I personally prefer to hang them out to dry on a line, will under dire circumstances also dryer dry them.

I have also hand washed quilts, but boy getting the water out of them prior to drying them is very challenging.

At the moment, I pre-wash the fabric and then do not wash the finished quilt . . . but I've only made wall-hangings and more decorative quilts. If I were making a quilt for "use", a baby quilt or a bed quilt, I think I would certainly wash it afterwards, just to make sure that it would hold up.

Thanks to all who responded to my question about washing quilts. Learned a few things.

I prewash, and never wash a quilt after it is done, but I would if it got dirty in the process of making it--say, if I handquilted it as a QAYG, in which case it would be bound to accumulate plenty of cat hair!

I never pre-wash fabric, but alway wash the quilt after it's finished and I do put it in the dryer.
Red

I never pre-wash fabric. I always test the dye to see if it will run when washed. So far none have so no need to pre-wash. Once the quilt is finished (if it isn't wall art) I wash it in the machine on gentle cycle. After that it gets blasted in the dryer. Most of my quilts are made to be used and loved in every day life so they need to be able to withstand washing and drying.

I do have a few small applique wall hangings that have not been washed. When the times comes I will most likely hand wash them in cold water and hang dry. If a wall hanging is pieced then it gets washed.

Foxy.

I sometimes prewash...sometimes don't. I always wash a quilt in cold water (with just a little or no soap) after I am done especially baby quilts or quilts I am giving to someone to use on a bed.

It will inevitably need a washing later and I don't want the recipient to be disappointed by it changing a little during the first washing. This way, it will come out of the washer/dryer and look just like it did when they first received it. I do always tell the recipient to use cold water and no heat and a gentle soap.

I put it in the dryer on the no heat (or very low) setting. This gets out most of water. Then I just throw it on the guest bed or over the couch to finish drying out in the house.