Thread: Is there any hope for this quilt?

And people laugh at me for pre-washing pre-cuts, like jelly rolls and fat quarters. One of the worst disasters I've had is a lap quilt made out of jelly rolls, not pre-washed, because they tell you not to do that. It was for a raffle for a child with cancer. Of course I washed the quilt when finished, cold water, small amount of Orvis soap, and 3 color catchers. It bled everywhere! I was just sick. Not only was the quilt ruined, but I had less than 10 days to do something for the raffle, and this was important to me. I knew the family, and the little girl. So I picked up the queen sized quilt I had been working on, and I went to work like a madwoman. It was a real beauty, a log cabin with stars and an unusual layout. Very striking. I worked virtually non-stop, and finished it up the morning of the raffle. That quilt was meant for my Dad, but when I explained the situation to him, he just said: "You go, Sweetheart." They ended up putting the quilt in the auction, instead of the raffle, and it brought $500! That's quite a bit for a quilt! Would it surprise anyone to learn that my Dad was at the auction, and he was determined to outbid anyone. The bidding was pretty feisty, and at one point you had 3 determined people bidding! But my Dad wouldn't back down. He told me later that it was his quilt, and he wasn't going home without it! Is he great, or what?

Originally Posted by MacThayer

And people laugh at me for pre-washing pre-cuts, like jelly rolls and fat quarters. One of the worst disasters I've had is a lap quilt made out of jelly rolls, not pre-washed, because they tell you not to do that. It was for a raffle for a child with cancer. Of course I washed the quilt when finished, cold water, small amount of Orvis soap, and 3 color catchers. It bled everywhere! I was just sick. Not only was the quilt ruined, but I had less than 10 days to do something for the raffle, and this was important to me. I knew the family, and the little girl. So I picked up the queen sized quilt I had been working on, and I went to work like a madwoman. It was a real beauty, a log cabin with stars and an unusual layout. Very striking. I worked virtually non-stop, and finished it up the morning of the raffle. That quilt was meant for my Dad, but when I explained the situation to him, he just said: "You go, Sweetheart." They ended up putting the quilt in the auction, instead of the raffle, and it brought $500! That's quite a bit for a quilt! Would it surprise anyone to learn that my Dad was at the auction, and he was determined to outbid anyone. The bidding was pretty feisty, and at one point you had 3 determined people bidding! But my Dad wouldn't back down. He told me later that it was his quilt, and he wasn't going home without it! Is he great, or what?

What a wonderful story! I have tears in my eyes, and your Dad is indeed great! (And so are you.)

Alison

Thinking a good soak in a tub (so it lay's relatively flat) with a lot of water and synthrapol might work. Certainly wouldn't hurt. Note that you need VERY hot water for synthrapol to work. I would go so far as to say that to get enough hot water in a bath tub - I'd be boiling a big ol' pot to add to the bath water. I'd also toss in a color catcher as an "indicator" to see if the darn thing is done bleeding.

I've never used the RIT color remover product.

Originally Posted by pacquilter

I have a friend who was given a beautiful quilt as a wedding gift, and she recently washed it for the first time. The quilt was blue and yellow, and unfortunately the blue bled onto the yellow and turned it green. She used some oxyclean on it, and got the green to kind of a grayish color. She was planning to get some of that Rit color remover, but I'm thinking that will probably make everything even worse. It doesn't seem to me like there's much hope for fixing it, but I told her I'd check with the experts. Any suggestions appreciated.
Thanks!

Is she using a front loader? They make color bleeds about 10 times worse because there just isn't enough water to float away the excess dye. Tell her to take it to a laundry mat or borrow a friends top loader and wash it several more times.