But there is nothing I can do about it……
I sewed the binding onto the second lap quilt and finished stitching it down this morning. I put the quilt in the machine to wash it. I even put in synthrapol because this quilt had reds, greens, blacks, and white in it.
I checked the quilt before I threw it in the dryer and it looked fine. About 2/3 of the way through the drying I checked on the quilt and saw that one of the red fabrics ran and one of the green fabrics ran.
I quickly put it back in the washer and washed with synthrapol again. That cleared up the red, but not the green. I soaked it in oxyclean and that cleared up some of the green issues, but not all of them. That green fabric has been in my stash a long time so I have used it before and never had this problem. Or at least I never noticed it before….I guess that is more likely.
I washed it one last time in synthapol and decided to call it a day. This quilt will be washed many times and the green will probably continue to be a thorn in my side. It is only a lap quilt, but it was one I really liked. I liked all the white against the reds, greens, and blacks. I liked making the wonky star blocks and I liked using up a lot of my Christmas stash and my whites and off whites.
It is dry once again and you have to get up close to it to see the greens that have wicked onto the white fabrics. If I had only known I could have thrown this green fabric into the garbage. I hate that manufacturers sell fabric that is not color fast. It makes me really mad considering how much we pay for fabric.
Oh well I am sure I will get over it before long.
What fabric disasters have you had? How did you fix the problem or did you just learn to live with it.
Thanks for reading.
Chris
I always PRE_Wash so I know which are the offending fabrics. Which Green was it? If you don't mind sharing the name on the selvage. Kona Bay had some that was AWEFUL, I was so happy I pre-washed it.
ReplyDeleteI always prewash as well. I have had this fabric in my stash for so long I do not know the manufacturer, I will be more careful with greens in the future.
ReplyDeleteI once had a burgundy thread run all over my quilt, not the fabric, but the thread. It ran all over the white areas. I made a paste out of Biz detergent, and used a toothbrush to get it off. After about three washings with that and color catchers it came out, but boy, was I stressing! It was a queen sized quilt for a wedding gift.
ReplyDeleteMelodie, that reminds me of a quilt I made for my mother for Christmas one year and the red thread ran onto the white areas. I ended up using a bleach pen, but the biz sounds like a better idea.
ReplyDeleteBoy do I know the stress of having this happen on a gift. My mom's quilt was small. I can't imagine having it happen on a large quilt.
Most of my fabric stash is from estate sales and thrift stores, and I'm not about to wash and iron little scraps, so I cut it up and hold my breath and use lots of color catchers when I wash the finished quilts. Most of the time, it works out just fine.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest disaster was a blue and white quilt that my daughter used and then washed without the color catchers. One of the blues bled all the way through the batting and backing. But my youngest had already taken a ball point pen to it, so I couldn't bee too mad at my teenager.
So sorry about that green, but the quilt is really lovely and maybe you can see it as part of its character!
ReplyDeleteI really didn't notice the problem. The quilt looks great and I know you will enjoy using it.
ReplyDelete