Jeanette Frantz

Tessagin, I made the quilt pictured in my avatar, with really, really red borders, hand-embroidered satin-stitch on the Arkansas Razorback (also very, very red). Fortunately, my cousin, who has a quilt/fabric shop in Oklahoma, advised me to "test" the fabric for bleeding, which I did. Oh, yeah, it bled like a stuck hog (pun intended). My cousin and I discussed this on the telephone several times, and I began the search for a "dye setter". I looked in every retail store in this town, to no avail. Then, when I got home, thoroughly frustrated, I searched online. In particular, I knew that Rit Dye had a "dye setter", not stocked in local stores, but available online. I ordered the product, treated the fabric according to the instructions, then put it in the washer on rinse cycle (water temperature not an issue), and dried the fabric, ironed it, embroidered it, and completed the quilt. As a tip, I would suggest using a large stew pot on the stove. If you do that, you can start with treating the lighter shades first, then proceed one-by-one with the darker shades; for instance, if I had three shades of red, start with the lightest shade of red and proceed to the darkest shade of red. Supposing you have more than three shades of red, after treating the first three shades (as an example, each fabric being 3 yards) after the first three shades of red you need to add another tablespoon to the stew pot before continuing with the fourth shade of red! I made the quilt pictured in my avatar in 2010, and there's no bleeding. Although I would caution that if it were my quilt (this one was a gift) I would wash it using color catchers. If I spend the time it takes to make a quilt, I would never risk ruining it in the wash! I ordered the product online, just google Rit Dye Setter!

Sorry for making this so very long -- this was my first queen-size bed quilt and I surely did NOT want to risk a wedding gift getting ruined. I know this sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but this was a very special quilt, so I "bought insurance" with my labor and this product. BTW, I have no financial interest in Rit Dye, just a financial interest in the product I used the Rit Dye Product on! THE DYE SETTER IS NOT EXPENSIVE -- I bought three bottles, plus express shipping for less than $20.

I will add this: After treating the red fabric, I cut a small strip of the treated fabric, and tested it in a glass of very hot water, then checked for bleeding with a WHITE PAPER TOWEL -- NO BLEEDING!

Jeanette