mimi62 wrote:

[url]see-quilts/zoom-quilts/[/url]

I don't know if this is the place to post it but I have a question. The BOM 2014 - A-Z for Ewe and Me quilt was it a zoom quilt? I am trying to see how it was quilted and I can't find it anywhere. I was almost sure that it was a zoom quilt. If not I would appreciate it if it was. Thanks - Jimmie

You all are the BEST! Thanks for all of your knowledge. I'm going to take bits from each response & plod on through this task!

I believe that one of the other factors with bleeding is the fabric that takes in the extra dye. Not all fabrics will absorb the dye in the water. So even if a fabric bleeds, it may not be a problem.

What I do is wash all fabric as it comes in the house. I mostly do this because I don't like the chemicals (sizing, etc) that are on the fabric. I feel like I get a better straight-of-grain on prewashed fabric and I believe that on-grain pieces result in better quilt tops. But it can also catch problems with bleeding fabric.

All in all, I don't worry too much about commercial fabrics bleeding. I have a bit of a hoarding problem with fabric (which I don't worry about too much since I'm not in debt), so there's a LOT of fabric in my house. All of it is pre-washed and there have only been a couple of times where one of them has bled onto another one. One time when I did have bleeding was with fabric that I bought as a kit and I pre-washed it all together. There was a purple batik that bled onto a white regular cotton. None of the other fabrics was affected, which is why I say that not all fabrics will absorb the loose dye. I wasn't able to get the purple out of the white fabric, so it is now a light purple fabric to be used in some other project and I'll have to find another fabric to replace it in this project.

So, I guess I don't find fabric bleeding to be a big problem and I don't worry about it too much. I'm not making award-winning quilts and if I do end up having bleeding on one (which has never happened up to this point), then I'll be bummed, but I'll still use it for warmth and will enjoy it. I figure I can either spend my time testing every piece of fabric I use, or I can spend it quilting and I choose quilting. If you are making something that you will be devastated if it bleeds, then definitely do all of the testing.

I did Jane Dunnewold's fabric dyeing class on Craftsy and she recommends Blue Dawn dishwasher liquid when rinsing fabrics to get the colour out, followed by Synthrapol. We don't have blue Dawn here but I do use synthrapol and I prewash all my fabrics unless they are pre-cuts. Then I will just wash the quilt with a little synthrapol in the washing machine. I have to admit I never wash my fabrics by hand, I just bung them straight into the washing machine and give them a wash at 40ºC with a couple of colour catchers. I then tumble them dry to preshrink them too. If I am ever worried about a quilt bleeding I always put about 25ml of synthrapol into the washing machine with it. I use a front-loading automatic washing machine.

Good advice, Rosemary! Throwing away the fabric is obviously a last resort after trying several things to set the dye!

Margo wrote: :shock: That seems a bit extreme :shock:
How about collecting them all up together and only using them in a quilt by themselves? Or using them to help dye some other yardage

One thing I learnt from a dyeing friend, is that it is not so much the amount of rinses that makes a difference as the amount of time it spends in the water (preferably warm), so if you have a bleeder (in more ways than one ) leave it to soak for a day or two, with Retayne if you have it, then rinse & check. I had this problem with my Sottts backing fabric and it ended up with numerous soakings with Synthapol (cos that is what I had) over several days - not good with a deadline, but it worked.

Susan, I don't usually prewash my fabrics, but I do pre TEST anything the might possibly bleed! I'll cut a piece about 4" square and put it in a white bowl (mine is Corelle) with HOT water. You can tell almost right away if the color is going to bleed because the water changes color and you can see it against the white bowl. It's a PITA to do, but not as painful as dealing with a bleeding fabric after the project is quilted!!

If the water stays clear, I don't worry.
If the water shows color, I wash that fabric and use Retayne until the water is clear.
If the water doesn't clear, I THROW THE FABRIC AWAY!! :shock:

Possibly beating a dead horse, but I need advice on pre-washing batiks. I decided to pre-wash and organize my entire stash. It may take a while, but my back is screaming because I spent a day washing small batches in the bathtub in clear plastic bins. I need to change to the washing machine.

How do you know when enough is enough? I washed a batch of really dark batiks (purple/blue) with two Color Catchers TWICE, with double rinses. The first CC's were brilliant, the 2nd, not so much, but still had plenty of color. Am I safe?

I can't imagine trying to wash all the fabric individually to find the culprits. Help!

Thanks Lois. Didn't think to look there. Worked great. Nan in cold upstate (on Canadian border) NY

Nanguilts wrote:
I had problems with the link from the newsletter but was able to access the project from the Projects page.

Trying to download PDF for Little Scraps of learning. It does not respond. Anyone else having this problem?

I am always intrigued by a secret code concept on a quilt, and whatever Janet says, she'd be sure to deny it if there is one...... But Janet, if you DO decide to make a secret code quilt, we should talk.

Well, Janet, I grew up in the age of Flash Gordon and even had the secret decoder ring! I guess that whole secret code thing is still with me.

Barb in Alabama
Waaay too cold here