IowaStitcher, do you have any unwashed maroon backing left over? If so, can you dampen a white towel and rub it on the fabric? I think we'd all be interested in the results. :thumbup:

Yes, which is one reason why I machine quilt with Poly threads. But mostly I use Poly in my LA because I much prefer the way it performs and looks in the finished product. And the polys I use don't make any lint. Even the best cotton quilting threads produce loads of lint when put through the speeds a LA puts them through. Some are much worse than others. King Tut is about the only cotton I will use in the LA and even then, I don't use much of it. And no telling what the quality is now that Superior Threads is now owned by Premier Needle arts. The same company that owns Handiquilter and Connecting Threads.

I have tried your suggestions of testing both the thread and some backing fabric in water. No dye was evident from either. I then laid them on a piece of old white sheeting to dry. No dye transfer there either. Since this was all hand quilted and I am sure I prewashed both backing and top fabric I'm not sure how this dye transfer happened. I used the maroon backing fabric as the binding and saw no color transfer to the front when it was washed.So, I am completely baffled. Thank goodness for color catchers. And thank you for all your ideas.