Just to show how bad it got. [ATTACH=CONFIG]406204[/ATTACH] fading in the dark blue
[ATTACH=CONFIG]406205[/ATTACH] comparison of good and ruined part of back

[ATTACH=CONFIG]406208[/ATTACH]
The front....faded out sashing on the left (obviously) compared to the true colors on the right. :(

Ow ow ow ow ow. That is worse even than I imagined.

Wow, that is the worst I've ever seen. I'm sorry all your time and effort (and some money) were wasted.

It would have been salvageable, had I not tried that last product. Huge lessons learned.
The next quilt I'm going to finish has some bright blue next to white. I'll definitely use the color catchers, but I will be scared to death to wash it.

This is exactly the reason I always set the dyes in the fabrics I use for quilts! Not that I'm all that experienced, mind you, being still a rank amateur. I have the fabric all dye-set, washed, dried and ironed for a log cabin quilt. I spent about $300 for the fabric alone. But it's reds and whites and despite anything you do (just about) red will bleed. I discovered the Rit dye-setter almost by accident (honestly, I don't own stock in the company or anything), but I'm a believer. It also works for those who want to hand-paint! Enough said. It's a tragic thing to have a quilt bleed to that extent! I am so sorry this happened to you.

Jeanette Frantz

So sorry you had this experience. I'm pretty gun shy about sewn swaps, but do enjoy fabric swaps. I am not a pre-washer, but do wash with Syntrapol in the first washing of a finished product.

Bed runners are very popular right now... If you are considering cutting the damaged part away, maybe you could make it a bed runner?

It would be sideways if it was a bed runner....there is directionality to some of the blocks. What is left could be about 39 x 70. Maybe I'll cut out 2 x 3 blocks and 3 x 3 blocks and make two baby quilts?

All those who talk about pre-washing...remember, this was a block exchange. I didn't have pieces of fabric to pre-wash, and it was only 1-2 of the received blocks that bled (the ruined fabric in the photos is from one of the products I used to try to fix it--none of those fabrics ran in the first two washings). Or would y'all pre-wash the blocks before you put them into the quilt?

But a good lesson on doing too much to "fix" a problem.

I'm very sorry about the loss of your quilt. We become attached to these things when they are a part of our lives for several weeks.

I gift Color Catchers with every quilt I give away. I haven't been able to keep one for myself yet.

I have a piece of Maywood black in a bowl right now. The water is not pretty.

OMGosh! Read each successive post hoping for the best but it really is a goner. I'm so sorry this happened!