Dang, it’s cold here! Elie just half-jokingly offered to use some of my felted crafting sweaters for weatherstripping and door wadding.
This weekend was all about two things: relaxing and doing chores that you’d rather put off. The relaxing was awesome and the chores were even fine because now they are done. Remember how I made Eva a beautiful redwork quilt? I put off washing it forever (if you look up the date of the post where I shared it, I will be shamed) because I knew I was facing bleed issues. This was my first quilt, and it was red and white, and I didn’t prewash my fabrics. Gasp! I didn’t realize how bad I had been until a rainstorm poured into Eva’s bedroom window and soaked one little corner of the redwork quilt. Oh, did it bleed. It looked like melted blow-pop, and it was enough to shock me into very bad laundry practices.
This weekend Eva asked me if I would please wash the quilt. It had gone to far. I suppose there’s no time like the new year for this sort of thing, so I bit the bullet and washed years of hand quilting and embroidery work with white right next to red. I started it off in my bathtub using cold water and a gallon of vinegar along with a cup or two of salt. My science is fuzzy, but maybe this is supposed to set the dye? I read it online and I thought it couldn’t hurt. I also added 3 shout color catchers. It made the tub water so pink. After some agitation I squeezed it out then threw it in a laundry basket a whisked it down to the basement to the waiting washer filled with cold water, soap, and 3 more color catchers. The water was still bright pink on the second rinse cycle. It came out OK. The white is not pure and there’s a general pinky glow, but I’m sure it’s not as bad as it could have been
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Sooooo let’s see the quilt!!
You have forever made me realize, I must, must, must wash before quilting! I’m horribly afraid of my mother washing the table runner with red poinsettias and a beautiful white background I made her last year.
I hope you are staying warm!
Oh that doesn’t sound fun to wash! I actually prewash all my fabrics for that reason, it makes it a bit easier…
Hey, just stumbled over and am reading back in time a bit… Have you tried Charlie’s Soap liquid on your redwork quilt? (I swear I am not linked to the company in any way) I have had incredibly good luck with getting dye out of things with it — I mostly rescued an embroidered tablecloth that had run, and use it when washing my own quilts and blueberry-encrusted kids’ clothing (yes, the kids are encrusted. the clothes are too.). I’d try doing a tub soak again with ample CS mixed into the water. Yes, even now.