Are these blocks doomed?
 

Sometime ago, I made some basket quilt blocks and put them away. I just got them out. They are made with white background fabric. Due to poor lighting in the room where I was working at the time, it appears that the iron may have been a little warm at times. Are these blocks doomed or is there a solution?

not seeing them it's hard to tell....but sometimes 'yellowing' does wash away- so finish them up and launder your project-

Couldn't say for sure without seeing them. But, if the iron was too hot, they may be scorched. I don't know a solution for that. Sorry I'm not much help.

I don't think you can tell from the picture that the side strip is discolored.

I have used Retroclean for removing yellowing in linens, but I am not sure about scorching

Try a little hydrogen peroxide and see if it lifts a little. I read that somewhere and I thought I'd seen it on the board!

If you were using starch, and the starch scorched, they will likely wash up just fine. If the fabric itself is scorched, they may not clean up. Hoping you used starch!!!!

Are you attached to them? If not, don't feel bad about cutting your losses. Sometimes you just have to say "live and learn" or "oh well, I survived." But if the fabric is not scorched, you could try the methods advised above. If it is, it's a lost cause.

That's not scorched. It's a transfer of the yellow dye onto the white fabric, from the yellow fabric next to it, when the iron moved across the yellow onto the white. I had it happen to me once with a red dye onto a white fabric, and all my fabrics were prewashed/shrunk before I cut anything. The problem is in the manufacturing of the offending fabric. It's not your fault. There is a name for this, too, which I can't think of right now (something like crackling or crazing ??). When it happened to me, I put a tiny bit of liquid soap onto a clean damp washcloth and rubbed it out, then rinsed it. But if I was careless with which way I moved my iron, it would happen all over again, even in the exact same place. Big bummer, because the quilt was a gift. But after I got all the red smears out, I decided it shouldn't be a problem, because I don't expect the recipient will be ironing her quilt anytime.

There was a THREAD titled SCORCHED FABRIC a couple of months back that provided several different methods for removing the discolored area. Hopefully you can do a search for it and find a method that will work for you. Good luck.

I think this is a great idea if you can't get the marks off of your project.

I have used peroide and even a weak bleach solution on the end of a Q-tip. Good luck.

I saw an article that said tea dyeing is a no-no. The tanic acid in tea will eat the fabric. They suggect brown paint.

Make them up into table runners or something small and then wash to see what happens. Try some of the above suggestions but I wouldn't make them into a quilt unless I did a strong tea dye or something that covered it up satisfactorily. Depends on how much you are attached to them and whether they were made by someone you love. If not then you are free to use them as you wish.

Mimi, that block is beautiful and the yellow is so perfect. I hope you can save all of them.
Maybe you could undo and then replace the scorched parts?
I read that coffee has less tannic acid than tea and that your fabric would then have a life expectancy of about 75 years. I wonder how long you can expect tea dyed fabric to last. Coffee dye creates a different look than tea though and I can't see it looking nice with that cheery yellow. It has been my experience that the colored fabrics don't take tea dyeing well, but the white and cream fabrics do.

sew em up and snuggle under them this winter. or donate them to an abused women's shelter. or make small quilts and donate to an animal shelter-concrete floors or cages are mighty cold. use the blocks. A little color/scorching on fabric isn't fatal to any one or animal when they are trying to get warm!

It doesn't look like scorch to me. If it were, I would think you would see the imprint of the iron.

Make it up and wash it as suggested. If it still isn't OK, then it's time to donate it to a shelter. (Any kind of shelter.)

Thank you all. I really love these blocks and wish you could see them. There are sixteen in various colors. I'm thinking the problem could possibly be a not too clean bottom of the iron. I'm going to keep on making blocks and pray for the best.

Exactly my thought. :)

lemon juice and sunshine??? if that doesn't work, I would go with tea dye.

I don't have any suggestions, but wanted to say that the fabric is one of my favorite white-on-whites. I buy a few yards whenever I see it. I ought to just buy it by the bolt.

I may have been the one who started a thread about scorched fabric a few months ago. I got good suggestions, hydrogen peroxide is the one I tried. It helped a little. I decided just to finish up my quilt, as this was a small quilt I was going to put on the seat of my sewing chair. I was just going to sit on it, after all, so I figured it would be okay. (I really was very gentle with using the hydrogen peroxide, as I didn't want to remove color from my other fabric.)

Anyway, when I finished and washed the small quilt, the scorching went away. I hope that is what happens for you.

Dina

Okay, it was my thread....and, if I did it right, this should take you to it. I have forgotten the other suggestions, and they might help you?

Dina

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...c-t229063.html

try rubbing a freshly cut lemon over the darker spots and leaving the block in the sunshine till they dry. acidity in the lemon does a little bleaching of the fabric and sunlight helps it along but without the chlorine that can damage the fabric.

Try soaking the block in Oxiclean I have done this with aged blocks and they came out fine. Do soak them in a sink and rinse in a sink and let air dry. It would be worth a try. Beautiful block and a wonderful job of construction.

That doesn't look to me like a scorch mark. Try hand washing just one of them and see what happens.

Have you thought of doing any applique such as flowers and leaves??? There must be someone on the board that would be delighted to get these blocks. My church group loves to take discarded blocks and make quilts for those less fortunate. I have taken swap blocks that guild members no longer want and with a little fix here and there, the quilts have turned out pretty good. These blocks were all different sizes. Sorry, this is the only picture I could find on my computer...

It might have just been a dirty iron? I use a lot of spray starch and about once a month I need to clean the sole plate.

I've 'heard' you can pour some salt on a piece of waxed paper and iron over it but haven't tried it.

What I use is Dritz iron cleaner. comes in a tube like toothpaste.
I cut a 6" square of cotton batting, fold it up (3 layers,to keep the cleaner from going through to the ironing board cover) then squeeze a line of the iron cleaner out on the roll.

Drive the hot iron back and forth a few times, you'll be amazed at how dirty the cotton batt gets :)
Pitch the dirty batt and go back to pressing your brains out!

Scorched the cuff of my son's brand new dress shirt to go w/his brand new suit. Hydrogen peroxide worked. I applied it, lightly ironed it w/a white pressing cloth (fabric) several times until it came out.

There's no way I would toss them. I would make the quilt and use it.

doomed blocks
 

I learned long ago that when blocks get discolored I help. That is to say I make a large pot of tea and put the blocks in the tea. This will give the fabric a tint that will bring all the colors together. My grandmother did this all the time as the feedsacks, even with the same fabric pattern would be a little off. The tea die brought them all together.
Any quuestions PM me

Try Efferdent!
 

I have recently gotten a couple of vintage quilt tops that are discolored and bled on another top I was working on - I was talking to my long arm quilter and she recommended Efferdent. Evidently, you put about 12 efferdent tablets in your tub and let it soak overnight (that's for a full size quilt top). She says it works wonders. I haven't had time to try it yet. Good luck.

My question would be, is it possible that the starch you used possibly have yellowed with time? If so, a gentle cleaning in the sink with regular quilt wash might be all that is needed, or I would hand baste them to a very light colored pillow case if I tried to machine wash them to prevent distortion. (Just a thought.)

You could overdye them another color--pink or blue, etc. That might cover the scorch.

I think I remember my home ec teacher mentioning a white vinegar and water solution for "scorched" fabric. Does anyone recall when irons actually got HOT, I mean really hot. The irons available now are kind of wimpy in the heat catagory. Just say'in.

Go ahead and finish your quilt, I did one years ago in a class and spilled my fresh latte on the white on white. Well needless to say it was stained but when finished I sent it to my son in Texas and said that there was a little taste of home on the quilt. He loved it and still does. So chalk it off to learning, it may come out and then it may not but someone out there will love it just the same.

I wish this board had a like button. You all have been so kind with your suggestions. I am making blocks again and will finish this top.

Finish the quilt and then after washing you aren't happy try tea dying the whole thing to antique it. Or use Rit dye if you prefer.