Thank goodness for the wisdom provided in this forum!!
 

I made a "Summer in the Park" quilt using the MSQ method out of red, white, and red plaid fabrics. I read a post on here about bleeding fabric recently and knew red was a color that is problematic. I've never prewashed fabric before but since I was going to use red flannel on the back I decided to play it safe and prewash it. Thank goodness because it bled like crazy. So I washed and washed and then read on here about the Shout color catchers. I washed until the catchers came out white. Great! Happily moved on to making my sandwich and bound the quilt. When washing it I discovered that another fabric bled. Dang it all! So I washed and washed...vinegar, salt, colorfast bleach etc. Still minor bleeding but bleeding nonetheless. I read about retayne so I picked some up to try. I washed one last time to remove all soap etc. with just vinegar added to my wash along with shout stain treatment on the bled areas and color catchers. The stains were gone.Then i used the retayne as directed (other than my fabric was wet) and added color catchers. The quilt came out spotless, the color catchers were still white, so I tossed it in the dryer. The quilt is dry and stain free....I am now going to bed with a big smile on my face. Thanks to all who share their trials, tribulations, and solutions on this forum!

Did you prewash your red flannel backing too? If not, that would have been the second "bleeder". My DH bought a very thick, plush red plaid flannel sheet set for our bed. I prewashed it before use and we have used it for several winters now and all of our PJ's turn pink just turning over in the bed. Even the mattress pad is pink. Red flannel is horrible about bleeding.

Sorry that wasn't clear in my post. It was the red flannel backing fabric that I DID prewash first. Once that stopped bleeding I finished my quilt only to discover a different fabric bled also. Hope it is more clear now. Happy quilting.

Retayne permanently *sets* dyes. Synthrapol is the one you are supposed to use to lift bleeds out of fabric. I think you are very lucky.

Thanks Prism99, I think I was pretty lucky too! I did know about Synthrapol too thanks to this board but it wasn't available so I couldn't try that first and had to continue with my cleaning process ==that finally worked. I didn't use the Retayne until the stains were removed and I wanted the dye set as it was. I do have some Synthropol on order to have ready ....just in case it happens again.

Here is a picture of the quilt. I followed the technique from MSQ for Summer in the Park using 4 fabrics and mixing the pattern up a little to suit myself. It is for my DGS and I will be able to gift it to him later today. So happy I was able to save it!

Great quilt! It is below zero wind chill here today and thaat looks so inviting.

Thank you sewmary. It is so comfy cozy with the flannel backing. It is cold here today too with lake effect snow following 2 days of system snow. Finally, winter for those who like it...NOT me.

That was exactly my thoughts when I read the post. Just an FYI - Use Retayne prior to cutting!

Your quilt is very pretty , so glad it all worked out for you.