My DH has a dark red plaid set of flannel sheets on his bed in the winter and I knew that I had to wash them first. I washed them, he went to bed and the next morning his "tighty whities" were pink. I washed them often during the past couple of winters and they never did stop bleeding - the wash water and the two rinse waters were always pink. They were very thick flannel. I think that using the fabric on a dark colored quilt top would be OK after multiple pre-washes.