The most awful thing happened last night.

I've spent well over 1,200 hours making a quilt for my Mum. Most of that time was hand quilting. Anyway all was finished last night. I was so excited. I had visions of taking pictures today and sharing it with you all.

As is my normal practice, I always wash a quilt before giving it away. This time... the colors bled. The backing teal fabric has leached into the quilting lines and cream fabric (on the front) in blotches. (The teal fabric was pre-washed!).

So I washed the quilt in cold water twice (without any powder) and dye was still coming out. I then soaked the quilt over night in Napi-San (stain remover) and washing powder. I'm running it through the machine now. The amount of dye that is coming out (still!) is phenominal(sp?).

Failing this - what else can I do to salvage the quilt???

In this part of the world there are no color catchers. Is there anything around the house I could use??? Vinegar, baking soda??? Anything??? Currently I live rurally, and have a broken foot (no ability to drive or shop).

Help - Any words of wisdom (or comfort).

OMG!! I am so sorry. Did you prewash the fabric? I sure hope someone out there can help you. With all the knowledge on this board I am sure they will come through for you... Fingers crossed for you!!!

I don't have the answer you are looking for, Kiwiquilter... but I will say that if my daughter spent that kind of time on what sounds like a beautiful quilt, I wouldn't mind a few runny colors one bit! I'm serious... not meaning to sound trite... I can only imagine your feelings! But, then, I'm a very global thinker... I can still hear my mother saying, "Oh, don't worry about that... a man goin' by on horseback won't notice."

Oh my gosh - it's WORSE!!!

The cream fabric is no longer cream - it's a light teal (with the heavier blotches in patches).

Oh I could just cry.

I guess I'll keep washing it until no more dye comes out. Then I'm hanging it out to dry (e.g. whatever is left will get set by the heat).



(Yes the fabrics were pre-washed before piecing and quilting).

I can only imagine how heart broken you are. I had this happen to one of my students, she had spilt tea on the top. Her bleeding did come out after a couple of washes. Do you know anyone that can send you a color catcher? If not please pm me and I'll send you a box. It may or not come out after using a color catcher. Worth a try.

Oh I feel so bad for you. I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you, but I do agree with runner1, your Mom will love it dearly, because YOU made it!

I'm totally in aw that your fabric bled even though it was pre washed........makes me wonder about how often this happens and what can be done.

Please keep us posted and post a picture.

My son has to wear white dress shirts to school and he LOVES to play football after school before he changes out of his uniform....I usually find his bloody grass stained shirts rolled up in a ball under his bed, dresser, back seat of my car..point is-I always find them days latter. After trying everything on the market I have found the best stain remover is baking soda, vinegar, and water. I fill a bucket up with my first grade science project and soak his clothes overnight. I also have had lots of success with oxiclean on bleeding fabric. Grandma's spot remover is pretty awesome too.

I hope that you find something to help.

I'm rapidly moving from sad to mad. Well probably more frustration than mad.

There were dubious circumstances around the fabric purchase. What I mean is - the quilt shop owner is relatively bossy (not many LQS' rurally). When I came in for backing fabric (for 2 projects) she just pulled out the fabric and said "this one will work" (teal is a hard color to match to). I didn't even get a chance to look at the shelf.

She was aware that I was hand quilting these projects. She was also aware that this particular project was for my Mum. (I think that is a big deal - perhaps it wasn't for her?).

Anyway - she said the fabric wasn't of the best quality so I should prewash it. Which I did. I also heat set it by drying it outside. The fabric shrunk a LOT. Which I really wasn't happy with. Good thing I bought extra. Because it shrunk so much it was an absolute mare to quilt through.

I'm really disappointed with the current outcome, and really disappointed with the quilt store. I thought I did everything to ensure no bleeding would occur.

Not sure what the moral of the story is... How much do you need to wash fabric before you use?

You need some synthropol. It'll help pull the unset color out of the quilt and suspend whatever is still bleeding from that fabric and not let it settle on the fabric.

I've heard that that some people test to see if a fabric bleeds by putting it in a glass of hot water and letting it sit for several hours to see if any color comes out. Testing after washing might be a good idea for next time. The LQS lady sounds kind of sketchy, as though maybe she had an idea the fabric wasn't good. I'm so sorry and I would be mad, too! The lady would hear from me! I don't know what to tell you to do now. There are lots of knowledgeable people here. If there is a fix, someone will know!