Breathing a quilt-related sign of relief

Three years ago my niece was getting married, and I started a quilt
using fabrics in the colors they had selected for their wedding. By
"started," I mean I bought the fabric! Well, life got in the way, and I
just didn't get around to working on it until about a year ago.

Our guild is having its biennial (is that every two years?) quilt show
this week, and my goal was to finish the quilt, enter it in the show,
and actually have it judged. I've never entered anything into a show
before, so I was getting pretty excited.

Finished the quilting, had some blue marks to get out, decided to toss
it into a cold-water wash. The backing fabric was a bleeder, but I had
washed it multiple times and felt comfortable that the dye was pretty
much out of it. To be on the safe side, I tossed in a couple of Color
Catchers and some Synthrapol (reminder to self: Buy More Synthrapol!).

When the wash was done, I took a look and just about cried. The back
hadn't bled, but two of the fabrics in the top had! I know I had
prewashed them, but I guess I hadn't actually verified that they were
not bleeders. I ran it through another wash that night, then laid it on
the floor so I could take a look at it in the morning (the day the quilt
had to be taken to the show). There was still some bleed. I did another
cold-water wash and two warm-water washes, each time using Color
Catchers and Synthrapol (which is why I need to buy more!). The areas
where it had bled were better, but not what I wanted.

I did one final wash in warm water using Oxyclean and YESSSSSSS! It
worked! At that point, I didn't have time to let it air dry, so I threw
it in the dryer on low (I was using wool batting). It came out a little
crinkly, so I pressed it, tossed it back in the dryer to fluff it, and I
actually came out with a presentable quilt.

It's been delivered to the show, and all is well. I'm just glad it
happened while I had it and not after I had given it to my niece and her
husband. I planned to give her a box of Color Catchers, as I always was
my quilts with them if they have dark colors in them, but I know she
would have taken it out of the wash and tossed it immediately into the
dryer. That probably would have set the bleed, and she would have felt
as though she'd ruined the quilt. I don't know if she ever would have
told me about it!

Sorry this is so long, but it really feels good to get it all out!Thanks
for listening/reading!
--
Louise in Iowa
http://community.webshots.com/user/LouiseinIowa
nieland1390@mchsidotcom

Golly, Louise. There's 'spew' warnings but you really should have warned
us with an oxygen one. We should pass the portable oxygen mask, take some
valium and maybe even go smoke some of that suspicious leafy green stuff
before reading your post. WAaaaah. I was very grateful to make it to the
happy ? ending. You really scared me.
So glad you used your head and stayed patient until you got all the
miseries taken care of.
I'm astounded that you've never entered a quilt in a show. I am sure
that the Noel quilt you did for us would win anytime any where. *Not* that
Mr. Esther would be willing to release it to a bunch of strangers . . . or
friends, for that matter. Polly

"Louise in Iowa" nieland1390@mchsidotcom wrote in message
news
Three years ago my niece was getting married, and I started a quilt using
fabrics in the colors they had selected for their wedding. By "started," I
mean I bought the fabric! Well, life got in the way, and I just didn't get
around to working on it until about a year ago.

Our guild is having its biennial (is that every two years?) quilt show
this week, and my goal was to finish the quilt, enter it in the show, and
actually have it judged. I've never entered anything into a show before,
so I was getting pretty excited.

Finished the quilting, had some blue marks to get out, decided to toss it
into a cold-water wash. The backing fabric was a bleeder, but I had washed
it multiple times and felt comfortable that the dye was pretty much out of
it. To be on the safe side, I tossed in a couple of Color Catchers and
some Synthrapol (reminder to self: Buy More Synthrapol!).

When the wash was done, I took a look and just about cried. The back
hadn't bled, but two of the fabrics in the top had! I know I had prewashed
them, but I guess I hadn't actually verified that they were not bleeders.
I ran it through another wash that night, then laid it on the floor so I
could take a look at it in the morning (the day the quilt had to be taken
to the show). There was still some bleed. I did another cold-water wash
and two warm-water washes, each time using Color Catchers and Synthrapol
(which is why I need to buy more!). The areas where it had bled were
better, but not what I wanted.

I did one final wash in warm water using Oxyclean and YESSSSSSS! It
worked! At that point, I didn't have time to let it air dry, so I threw it
in the dryer on low (I was using wool batting). It came out a little
crinkly, so I pressed it, tossed it back in the dryer to fluff it, and I
actually came out with a presentable quilt.

It's been delivered to the show, and all is well. I'm just glad it
happened while I had it and not after I had given it to my niece and her
husband. I planned to give her a box of Color Catchers, as I always was my
quilts with them if they have dark colors in them, but I know she would
have taken it out of the wash and tossed it immediately into the dryer.
That probably would have set the bleed, and she would have felt as though
she'd ruined the quilt. I don't know if she ever would have told me about
it!

Sorry this is so long, but it really feels good to get it all out!Thanks
for listening/reading!
--
Louise in Iowa
http://community.webshots.com/user/LouiseinIowa
nieland1390@mchsidotcom

By the time I got to the end, I was breathing a big sigh of relief with
you! Good job, you!

Karen, Queen of Squishies




On 2011-09-14 09:23:44 -0500, Louise in Iowa said:

Three years ago my niece was getting married, and I started a quilt
using fabrics in the colors they had selected for their wedding. By
"started," I mean I bought the fabric! Well, life got in the way, and I
just didn't get around to working on it until about a year ago.

Our guild is having its biennial (is that every two years?) quilt show
this week, and my goal was to finish the quilt, enter it in the show,
and actually have it judged. I've never entered anything into a show
before, so I was getting pretty excited.

Finished the quilting, had some blue marks to get out, decided to toss
it into a cold-water wash. The backing fabric was a bleeder, but I had
washed it multiple times and felt comfortable that the dye was pretty
much out of it. To be on the safe side, I tossed in a couple of Color
Catchers and some Synthrapol (reminder to self: Buy More Synthrapol!).

When the wash was done, I took a look and just about cried. The back
hadn't bled, but two of the fabrics in the top had! I know I had
prewashed them, but I guess I hadn't actually verified that they were
not bleeders. I ran it through another wash that night, then laid it on
the floor so I could take a look at it in the morning (the day the
quilt had to be taken to the show). There was still some bleed. I did
another cold-water wash and two warm-water washes, each time using
Color Catchers and Synthrapol (which is why I need to buy more!). The
areas where it had bled were better, but not what I wanted.

I did one final wash in warm water using Oxyclean and YESSSSSSS! It
worked! At that point, I didn't have time to let it air dry, so I threw
it in the dryer on low (I was using wool batting). It came out a little
crinkly, so I pressed it, tossed it back in the dryer to fluff it, and
I actually came out with a presentable quilt.

It's been delivered to the show, and all is well. I'm just glad it
happened while I had it and not after I had given it to my niece and
her husband. I planned to give her a box of Color Catchers, as I always
was my quilts with them if they have dark colors in them, but I know
she would have taken it out of the wash and tossed it immediately into
the dryer. That probably would have set the bleed, and she would have
felt as though she'd ruined the quilt. I don't know if she ever would
have told me about it!

Sorry this is so long, but it really feels good to get it all
out!Thanks for listening/reading!

LOL!! After a couple of cold-water washes, I was ready to try just about
anything, but I hadn't considered the leafy green stuff!

This quilt had similar fabric to the off white you used in Noel - it
wasn't a Fairy Frost, but it was on that order. It glistened before the
bleed, when parts of it turned a dirty brown! I was so glad to see the
shimmer come back after that last wash.

Louise in Iowa
http://community.webshots.com/user/LouiseinIowa
nieland1390@mchsidotcom

On 9/14/2011 10:08 AM, Polly Esther wrote:
Golly, Louise. There's 'spew' warnings but you really should have warned
us with an oxygen one. We should pass the portable oxygen mask, take
some valium and maybe even go smoke some of that suspicious leafy green
stuff before reading your post. WAaaaah. I was very grateful to make it
to the happy ? ending. You really scared me.
So glad you used your head and stayed patient until you got all the
miseries taken care of.
I'm astounded that you've never entered a quilt in a show. I am sure
that the Noel quilt you did for us would win anytime any where. *Not*
that Mr. Esther would be willing to release it to a bunch of strangers .
. . or friends, for that matter. Polly

"Louise in Iowa" nieland1390@mchsidotcom wrote in message
news
Three years ago my niece was getting married, and I started a quilt
using fabrics in the colors they had selected for their wedding. By
"started," I mean I bought the fabric! Well, life got in the way, and
I just didn't get around to working on it until about a year ago.

Our guild is having its biennial (is that every two years?) quilt show
this week, and my goal was to finish the quilt, enter it in the show,
and actually have it judged. I've never entered anything into a show
before, so I was getting pretty excited.

Finished the quilting, had some blue marks to get out, decided to toss
it into a cold-water wash. The backing fabric was a bleeder, but I had
washed it multiple times and felt comfortable that the dye was pretty
much out of it. To be on the safe side, I tossed in a couple of Color
Catchers and some Synthrapol (reminder to self: Buy More Synthrapol!).

When the wash was done, I took a look and just about cried. The back
hadn't bled, but two of the fabrics in the top had! I know I had
prewashed them, but I guess I hadn't actually verified that they were
not bleeders. I ran it through another wash that night, then laid it
on the floor so I could take a look at it in the morning (the day the
quilt had to be taken to the show). There was still some bleed. I did
another cold-water wash and two warm-water washes, each time using
Color Catchers and Synthrapol (which is why I need to buy more!). The
areas where it had bled were better, but not what I wanted.

I did one final wash in warm water using Oxyclean and YESSSSSSS! It
worked! At that point, I didn't have time to let it air dry, so I
threw it in the dryer on low (I was using wool batting). It came out a
little crinkly, so I pressed it, tossed it back in the dryer to fluff
it, and I actually came out with a presentable quilt.

It's been delivered to the show, and all is well. I'm just glad it
happened while I had it and not after I had given it to my niece and
her husband. I planned to give her a box of Color Catchers, as I
always was my quilts with them if they have dark colors in them, but I
know she would have taken it out of the wash and tossed it immediately
into the dryer. That probably would have set the bleed, and she would
have felt as though she'd ruined the quilt. I don't know if she ever
would have told me about it!

Sorry this is so long, but it really feels good to get it all
out!Thanks for listening/reading!
--
Louise in Iowa
http://community.webshots.com/user/LouiseinIowa
nieland1390@mchsidotcom

Thanks, Sandy. I know I'll enjoy the show a lot more now than I would
have it I hadn't been able to show the quilt. It's not that it's all
that important; I just would have felt like I was letting somebody down
(and would have hated looking at a big empty space in the display!).

I'm a white glove worker both Friday and Saturday, and generally we
rotate throughout the entire display during our shift, so I should be
able to get a really good look at all the quilts.

Louise in Iowa
http://community.webshots.com/user/LouiseinIowa
nieland1390@mchsidotcom

On 9/14/2011 1:17 PM, Sandy wrote:
In ,
Louise in Iowanieland1390@mchsidotcom wrote:

Three years ago my niece was getting married, and I started a quilt
using fabrics in the colors they had selected for their wedding. By
"started," I mean I bought the fabric! Well, life got in the way, and I
just didn't get around to working on it until about a year ago.

Our guild is having its biennial (is that every two years?) quilt show
this week, and my goal was to finish the quilt, enter it in the show,
and actually have it judged. I've never entered anything into a show
before, so I was getting pretty excited.

Finished the quilting, had some blue marks to get out, decided to toss
it into a cold-water wash. The backing fabric was a bleeder, but I had
washed it multiple times and felt comfortable that the dye was pretty
much out of it. To be on the safe side, I tossed in a couple of Color
Catchers and some Synthrapol (reminder to self: Buy More Synthrapol!).

When the wash was done, I took a look and just about cried. The back
hadn't bled, but two of the fabrics in the top had! I know I had
prewashed them, but I guess I hadn't actually verified that they were
not bleeders. I ran it through another wash that night, then laid it on
the floor so I could take a look at it in the morning (the day the quilt
had to be taken to the show). There was still some bleed. I did another
cold-water wash and two warm-water washes, each time using Color
Catchers and Synthrapol (which is why I need to buy more!). The areas
where it had bled were better, but not what I wanted.

I did one final wash in warm water using Oxyclean and YESSSSSSS! It
worked! At that point, I didn't have time to let it air dry, so I threw
it in the dryer on low (I was using wool batting). It came out a little
crinkly, so I pressed it, tossed it back in the dryer to fluff it, and I
actually came out with a presentable quilt.

It's been delivered to the show, and all is well. I'm just glad it
happened while I had it and not after I had given it to my niece and her
husband. I planned to give her a box of Color Catchers, as I always was
my quilts with them if they have dark colors in them, but I know she
would have taken it out of the wash and tossed it immediately into the
dryer. That probably would have set the bleed, and she would have felt
as though she'd ruined the quilt. I don't know if she ever would have
told me about it!

Sorry this is so long, but it really feels good to get it all out!Thanks
for listening/reading!


Whew! What a relief, Louise! I'm *so* glad the color all came out -- and
I'll be waiting to hear all about your show!

That has to be the squeakiest squeaker I've heard in a long, long time -- maybe ever. What a relief! I'd hate to have to take Polly's advice and start making use of basil (that was the green leafy herb you were suggesting, right Polly?) before reading your posts, Louise.

Sunny

Noooo, Sunny. Not basil. I used to do the inventory of evidence for the
Narqs Squad. Smells more like oregano. Used to scare me to death driving
home after a few hours of that chore; fully expected one of those
drug-sniffing dogs to just have hysterics when I left the courthouse. Polly


"Sunny" wrote in message
news:11830995.3148.1316203814663.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@prfq4...
That has to be the squeakiest squeaker I've heard in a long, long time --
maybe ever. What a relief! I'd hate to have to take Polly's advice and start
making use of basil (that was the green leafy herb you were suggesting,
right Polly?) before reading your posts, Louise.

Sunny