Monday, March 25, 2019

A Quiltastrophe!...and a finish

I am super happy to have this "Golden Oldie" done and dusted!  I started this in September of 2011 as a quilt along with Jenifer Dick @42Quilts.  It is called "Traditional Tuesday".  A block a week and there are 64 blocks.  I didn't intend to have a red/white/blue quilt as I had started out wanting to make a blue and white quilt and then for some reason added a spark of red here and there and then the next thing you know I have a red/white/blue quilt.  Oh well, I can always make another blue and white quilt! I freemotion quilting a loop-de-loop stitch all over. 




75" square



The blue strippy panel on the left hand side is a jelly roll race quilt top that I made and didnt like so I cut it up and used it in other projects.  This the last panel.  The text print is by Lori Holt from the Bee Backing collection.  


When I say super happy I mean a super duper kind of happy. Jumping up and down happy!
  See all that Kona Midnight in the borders and the binding, not to mention the raging reds..well,  here's how that went....

1. pretty sure none of the fabrics in this scrappy delight were prewashed. so what could I do? just went for it...threw it in the washer with 6 colour catchers a small bottle of Synthrapol and cold water

2.  looked fine after first wash, although colour catchers were black.  I didn't see any amount of bleeding that worried me , figured the colour catchers caught it all, so into the dryer.

3. Post-dryer...Screaming could be heard...It was me!  My quilt is soft and cuddly but littered with huge blotches of navy blue and RED dye bleeds all over the front and  right through to the backing.  I am upset!

4. Remembered a post about how to save a bleeding quilt by Suzy Quilts.  Immediately filled the tub with the hottest water, added a cup of Dawn,  6 colour catchers....add quilt....Water is immediately black.

5. Drain tub, repeat.  I repeated this 4 times until midnight and I went to bed and dreamed all night about my ruined quilt.

6.  Morning.  Drain tub. put quilt into washer with more colour catchers. crossed my fingers and hoped for a miracle. 

7.  After soaking for 22 hours, my quilt came out PERFECTLY BLEED FREE!   not a speck of dye. Talk about super duper happy!
    Yes.  It takes a long time but it works!

Lesson learned about prewashing certain fabrics and not trusting to luck,  but also I won't get quite as upset about dye bleeds anymore as I know they can be removed.

My "Golden Oldie" quest is nearing the end.  Working on an applique quilt right now and then one more after that (Another reversible one) .  I am getting anxious to finish and move on to other things but so nice to have this giant UFO monkey off my back!!

Have a quilty day! 😊

ps...I may have overdone it with the Dawn dish liquid but I was desperate.  

8 comments:

  1. Wow, Linda! That was a quick finish! And it came out beautifully! I’m glad you were able to get out all the bleed. I worry about that each and every time I wash a quilt!

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  2. Fantabulous quilt...and so happy to hear that it is bleed free now, though you had much more patience than I would have had! Great job! Love seeing it flap in the breeze!

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  3. so it bled after you put it in the dryer? I had not heard of that happening but when the quilt that I have on the frame now comes off and ready for the wash I will remember to put a whole small bottle of Synthrapol in it - the quilt is scrappy and who knows what was washed and what isn't - so glad in the end that yours turned out

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  4. Holy moley!! That's quite a story. So glad the bleed all came out! Can you buy Color Catchers locally or do you stock up when in the USA??

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  5. Glad to see the quilt that we heard about. I love the jelly roll panel on the back.

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  6. Another great finish and I am so pleased you were able to clear all that colour out of it. I have read about Dawn before and really must try and source some just in case of emergencies! xx

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  7. That is great to hear. It looks just beautiful.

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  8. YIKES!! I'm SEW glad to hear the Dawn treatment worked. I know that you are, too!

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