What’s with the face you may be asking? Well, look at this freaking mess:
It’s not so much that some of the red bled. It’s that there are THREE different fabrics in all of those scrappy cream fabrics that decided to be really good receivers of the excess red dye.
Bad. Words.
It’s been through the wash a second time. Synthrapol again, and 3 dye catchers, which picked up a lot of color, and…yeah. None of the formerly-creamy-colored-fabrics-that-are-now-pink look any different.
Now, I’m experimenting with a Clorox bleach pen on some of those spots to see what will happen. If that doesn’t help, I have some other ideas. (And yes, I should prewash my reds, don’t lecture me. As I said, it’s not so much that the red bled, it’s those damned creams that picked up the dye and won’t let go.)
In other news, this quilt is finally finished after about a million years:
I pieced and quilted it…at least 5-6 years ago, probably longer. I decided to be clever and do the applique stitching on the flowers AFTER it was quilted. I had to do 3 of the leaf/stem units plus 9 of the little flowers. Guess how long it took me to finish it this afternoon?
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Go on, guess.
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If you guessed “Not more than an hour” you’d be close. It’s been languishing for YEARS, and I couldn’t find 1 stinking hour. (OK, it had also needed to be bound, but I did that several weeks ago).
Mark’s cousin (not that one that just graduated from West Point, this is the graduate’s older sister) is expecting baby number 2 this summer. Baby number 1 is 2 years old and I’ve had a quilt made for months, but never managed to get it sent. Mark’s Aunt and Uncle are in town for the day, so I decided to get this one done and pass on both quilts so they are off my mental list.
Thanks for the kind words about my blog, I want to respond, but I won’t have time until tomorrow.
Oh! Funny story before I wrap up for the day:
Mark got out his college physics textbook awhile back and every so often one of the boys sits and pages through it. Will was looking at it yesterday and last night at supper asked his Dad if he knew what the Stefan-Boltzmann Constant was. (Mark did know, I keep having to ask what it’s called because I can’t make it stick in my brain.)
But I did ask Will “Why do you want to know?”
“Oh, I thought I’d try calculating how much radiation the couch is giving off.”
How awesome is that kid?
After some discussion we determined that because you needed to know the surface area of the object under consideration, he might want to try the calculation on something that had had an easier surface area to calculate. I’ll let you know how that works out.
Shelley Rodgers says
I realize that in your mind, the scrappy white strips are supposed to be *white*, but honestly? If you hadn’t said anything, I would have thought …. and still do … that it looks wonderful with the low-key pinks in the whites.
And isn’t it just a *bugger* when vibrant colors bleed like that? EVEN IF you’ve prewashed it a zillion times and it STILL bleeds. Very. Very. Annoying.
But, in any case, I do like the flag quilt and should you find it excessively obnoxious, I would be pleased and delighted to give it a place of honor in my house. 🙂
Leah S says
Another quilter had the red bleeding problem and had success by sewing a color catcher directly to the problem spot and then washing it again.
http://kimscozyquilts.blogspot.com/2009/03/grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.html
http://kimscozyquilts.blogspot.com/2009/04/tah-dah.html
Deb says
I agree. If you hadn’t said anything i wouldn’t have noticed and figured you meant it that way. I think it looks really nice. Curious though, is it the photo or did it bleed a little blue along the right hand side of the photo?
So that constant measures radiation or something?
And that is by far my favorite self portrait.
Nancy says
Maybe I’m weird, but I like the red in the white. It looks faded, like faded blood stains… and after all, isn’t that what life, liberty, and happiness are all about?
floribunda says
me too! I think the slight pink variation among the cream scraps makes it more interesting. But I agree that If you didn’t intend it to be that way, it could be an unpleasant surprise…
Mary Ann says
for some reason when I first saw this photo a little song started in my head. “I’m a little teapot… ” The earrings made me think handles…
Linda Card says
Bummer. I still love the quilt, though. It’s OK to be angry at the creams.
Janet says
I also really like the bits of pinky-red in the creams. Makes it sparkle a bit. I wouldn’t take them out.
shirley bruner says
leave that quilt alone…..the pinks in the creams are darling…..they need to be there. you can spend your time on more important things. you’re outvoted. LOL
Alycia says
Well – I kind of like the way it looks – gives it a very patriotic feel. And I am glad you are blogging again too. I need to comment more often – but you just make me smile!