Wednesday, May 2, 2012

April Stash Busting 2012

Remember last month when I won a big box of fabrics? Well it's coming back to haunt my using more fabric than bringing in.  Sigh.  But I love having them and they are great so I can't complain too much. 






Month
Year to Date
In
  37.25  yards
37.25 yards
Out
14.5  yards
24.50 yards
Total
12.75 yards
2.75 yards


Ok, so it wasn't the greatest month but thank heavens I was able to sell some fabric at the FCQ Quilt Show Peddler's table.  Heck, I sold 11 yards so that isn't bad.  All of them were fabrics I bought at the Country Piecemaker's auction last November.  And, I used a hunk of another fabric from then on the back of a FCQ charity quilt.  It could have been so much worse. I should have a couple of finishes in May as the Scrap Squad quilt is almost ready to quilt. 


But, I am still purchasing fabrics.... yesterday I was able to get a wide back for SS #2. And, the best thing, I was able to buy it at the local quilt store.  It's red -- much of the quilt is white.  I am nervous about the red bleeding.  Here's why. 
See all those wrinkled things on top?  Those are the Color Catchers I threw in with the backing.  They turned all sorts of reds, pinks and purples. (Purples mainly because some of them had been used before.)  So as soon as the dishwasher is finished I will wash it again with 2 brand new Color Catchers.  And, yep, some of the Color Catchers were new -- I just don't know which ones.  No matter what it is obvious there is a lot of loose red dye swirling around in the washing machine.  


Now on to the last two seams of SS #2.  I have already bought and pulled fabric from my stash for #3.  I'm really excited about it.  Can't wait to finish #2 so I can start #3.  


Happy Quilting All!  
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6 comments:

  1. BeckyMay 2, 2012 at 11:14 AM

    Hi, Bonnie. I learned from using red for QOV backs, that as well as color catchers, use either Retayne or Syntropol. Retayne is supposed to help bind all the color to the fabric, and synthropol is supposed to lift off any unbound dye. I've had a few fabrics that I washed in Retayne bleed after the quilt was washed (DGD had a ladybug nursery). Now I use synthropol, with color catchers, on any red or navy fabric. Wide backings sometimes are not the same quality that yardage is, and I think that influences how well they rinse the fabric after dying. I, too, reuse color catchers. Hope this helps.

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  2. Donna KeatingMay 2, 2012 at 1:23 PM

    I was about to recommend synthrapol but saw that the previous post did the same thing. For more info on that product, you can go to http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/synthrapol.shtml

    Good luck with your running reds!

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  3. Vicki WMay 2, 2012 at 9:49 PM

    I've done a lot of experimenting with removing excess dye. If you will soak the fabric overnight in hot water with detergent (Dawn works fine) you will get the excess due out. Here's a longer article I wrote about it a while back
    http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/2012/02/an-update-on-my-colorfastness-post.html
    Good luck!

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  4. KatieMay 3, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    Treat the fabric with Retayne to fix the dye or Synthropol to remove excess dye. :-)

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  5. Darling Jill QuiltsMay 6, 2012 at 11:17 PM

    Whoa! That is a lot of color catchers and a lot of excess dye! I'm so happy to be done with the top for the second SS quilt! I am going to work on a few other things before I start on the third one. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. HeatherMay 6, 2012 at 11:19 PM

    Hi Bonnie! I'm stopping by to award you with the Liebster blogging award! You can stop by my blog on Thursday for the details and to pass it along to someone else whom you enjoy visiting in blogland. I really enjoy passing by here (usually secretly) and seeing what your up to.
    Heather

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting. Let me know what you're thinking about.

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