How do you print via printer on to fabric?

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Has anyone ever done this before....print via printer onto fabric? I know how to do it...just adhere the fabric to a piece of paper or iron the fabric onto freezer paper and cut to size. And it works great, but my problem is....the ink. I had it looking great and then thought about the ink fading...so I washed it (a square for a quilt). I had 3 different ones..one was on a t-shirt material with iron on interfacing on the back. That one washed and lightened it up some...another wash and it might not be readable. The second one was on cotton fabric, iron on interfacing on the back on pink fabric with fabric painted designs around the printed area. That one came out okay, but lightened up enough that probably one more wash would have made it so light it wouldn't have been readable. The third one was on white sheet fabric (a bed sheet square) and I printed a verse on it and washed it next day...and the ink/writing literally disappeared! I re-did both squares thinking that the first one had been done for a couple weeks, while the other two I did them in the day and washed them next night...maybe the ink hadn't had a chance to realy set in, so I have them in the windowsill with the sunshine, assuming they will dry really good. I figure I will have ato wash them again to see what happens, or do I not wash them, and tell my GD that the quilt they are going on, is dry clean only? And even then...I have no idea if dry cleaning will do anything to the ink. Anyone have any thoughts about this? maybe not have done it particularly, but something similar that I could possible use to fix my problem? Thanks!