by Sandra | April 12th, 2010
A Tale of A Cat, Some Tea and A One of A Kind Quilt Project
I knew the making of Jason’s Pumpkin quilt was going way to smoothly. You know those times when you see the possibility of an accident happening and you tell yourself to take care of it before fate steps in? Well………………..fate stepped in.
I like having a nice cup of tea about mid-afternoon for a nice relaxing break. I had it with me at the work table as I studied fabrics and areas of Jason’s quilt that I wanted to do next. I told myself to take the cup of tea (it was not empty) with me downstairs when I left the room. Did I? No I did not. In fact, I never made it back to the sewing room that day, or the next, and I completely forgot about the cup of tea that was not completely empty.
Saturday morning Jason tells me that Sophie our cat, “was a bad kitty ’cause she knocked over all of your stuff on your table in the sewing room mom“. He was also quite pleased to inform me, “it’s OK mom, I picked everything up and put it back“. Great, no worries then.
Don't let this cute face fool you, mischief is Sophie's middle name!
Later on I went into the room and looked at the quilt top laid out. Oh NO! You know that teacup? The one I forgot about even though I told myself to take it downstairs or something bad would happen? Well something bad did happen. What Jason did not realize at the time was that Sophie had dumped the teacup, with the remaining tea, all over the quilt top liquid and all. Jason couldn’t have seen it because what happened next took a bit of time to develop.
As the morning passed, the liquid blended with the material and began to create a pattern of psychedelic halos all over the sky background. Yes, I DID pre-wash these fabrics and yet they bled anyway. I just sat there speechless and was stunned absolutely stupid. To be honest, I was trying to process the fact that I would have to start all over again on this and it was not a happy thought. Was there anything I could do to salvage this?
The good luck part of the story was that the quilt top was still wet, which meant the colors and tea had not set and permanently stained the sky…… yet. So, with nothing to lose, I ran to the washing machine and dumped Synthrapol in and put it on regular wash cold. Then I waited. Would it come out, or would I be crying with fits of hysterics within 35 minutes?
When the little bell went off after the wash was complete, I pulled out the top slowly and brought it upstairs to my sewing room, laid it out full across the worktable and took a deep breath. The result? All the halos were gone with the exception of a couple of very tiny tiny spots!!!! And those were easily taken care of with a dab of a toothpick dipped in a minuscule amount of some diluted bleach, then a rinse.
After the washing and ironing. Can you tell this has been washed?
OK, the psychedelic sky was gone, but the second problem presented itself. Although the fabric had been pre-washed, the embroidery was not (never is). Neither is the cotton thread in which the applique is stitched with. So the “puckering” of the applique is an issue from the slight shrinkage of the threads. I like sharp crisp edges and none of that old fashioned puckering in my applique.
Slowly, very slowly and while the top was still damp, I gently ironed out flat all of the applique to look as if it had never been washed. I had to avoid creating ironed in puckers and pleats so it took me a good hour of slow gentle pressing to do this. I had to be careful not to stretch the bias as I did this.
The last hurdle was to see if I could still match up the work in progress to the overlay since the washing was sure to skew the alignment due to the shrinking etc. Remember all of those branches that have to line up perfectly with the other applique details? Oh my. I am happy to report that it is only off by such a teeny tiny amount that I can work it out.
I can put Jason’s Pumpkin Quilt in the save column and I have learned to NEVER leave behind anything that could damage my work in the sewing room again. Lesson learned—the hard way. For me there isn’t any other way unfortunately.
Before the disaster and the wash, can you tell any overall difference?
Another reason why I make my quilts washable. You never know what may happen and being able to wash a quilt is what may end up saving a lot of invested work in the end. Fortunately for me, this tale has a happy ending.
Your work still looks gorgeous after the disaster, thank goodness! I’m glad to hear that Synthrapol works in cold water, the directions for it’s use say hot water and I would hesitate to put a finished piece or work in progress in hot water.
I am so relieved for you
SANDRA: Copyright the photos!
I’m sooo glad you were quick on your feet and able to correct the harm done! And Sophia looks so innocent!
I’ll bet your heart was pounding the whole time. Quick thinking and making sure everything was washable saved the day. I’m so glad because it would have been a horrible loss.
Time for a spiked cup of tea (in another room, please!) Have a good week.
Panic (for you) fell over me as I was reading this, I’m so happy all is well now. It would be such a disaster to have this beautiful work ruined.
Glad you were able to save it. Why do the best quilters have cats ?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASON!!
What a major relief, Sandra… Very close call; would have been TRAGIC. You be careful with your fantastic quilt, Missy! So glad you’re not having to begin anew with Jason’s quilt.
My heart was pounding all thru this post ! I’m so happy you saved His wall Hanging. I’d tell Sophie she is grounded ! LOL !
You did a great job , fixing the problem (patting you on the back )
you can’t tell anything happened from here.
Good job restoring your gorgeous block. I am impressed with the synthrol. I had my first color emergency recently–also on washed fabric–which ran a little and mixed with the embroidery thread dye. I used Shout color catcher. I soaked the block in a bowl of water with the color catcher. It removed the embro. thread run. I doubt the color catcher would grab days old tea stains. Good experiment to try though.
Life’s hard lessons! Wonderful to see that Jason’s quilt was saved. I once washed a small wholecloth muslin quilt in a bucket that I had dyed fabric in. As I was washing the quilt I told myself not to do it, but I just kept going. When I pulled the quilt out it had pink chicken pox! I took some remaining dye and threw the quilt in. It actually turned out quite nice, an improvement. But I was feeling quite sick, as I needed it for a class sample. Lesson learned and shared with others.
Hey Melanie, guess what my first thought (after the initital shock and horror) was when I saw that fabric bleed? YOU and your catastrophe earlier. I have instituted a new rule. Wash fabrics TWICE and then test with the pencil removing solution as well. Especially the reds and purples. Even a green bled which is almost unheard of!
Did you notice I went back and put the copyright in. Thanks for looking out for me.
Thank you Connie
Thanks for the thumbs up Jan. Yes, the Synthrapol still worked in cold water. Maybe not as spectacularly as hot, but it worked and I didn’t have the added problem of the super shrink of the hot water. When I had nothing to lose, I could afford to experiment with the water temperature and the Synthrapol. Just make sure to program an extra rinse cycle.
Sara I also have a Pug. At least the Pug can’t jump up on my worktable! She just gets the things that hit the floor unbeknownst to me. No worries about pins and needles though thank goodness.
Mandy thanks! Yep I got lucky. Very lucky.
Oh Frances, tragic is my middle name. The down side of not being too serious is that I am always in danger of never being cautious enough. Nevermind the brain is starting to go in my old age and well…….;-)
Hey Boop,
One thing about always dealing with mistakes is that I learn. Sometimes they are lessons that are not totally necessary for success, but I learn. LOL
Janet, that is a good point about the embroidery thread color running too. One of the reasons I stick with DMC and/or the Cosmo threads now is that I don’t have the added concern of dye migration from those. I love my silk and specialty threads, but they add some worry as well. I used to use Retayne on the designer threads, but it stripped the silks of their trademark gloss so I gave up using so many of those.
I never thought of using a color catcher in the bowl with the embroidery threads. GREAT TIP. Thank you!!!!!!!
Patti, Oh my quilt chicken pox? Oh the horror! I am glad your experience turned out well in the end too! scary.
The quilt still looks beautiful, so all your hard work paid off. I usually have a cup of tea beside me as I applique, and now I am extra cautious, especially since my cat Simon is usually sleeping next to me! I better get some Synthrapol just in case!!
Denise, Synthrapol is a major life saver and should be by every quilter’s washing machine IMO.
I’m so glad Jason’s quilt isn’t spoiled! It’s such a beautiful piece and I enjoy going back and looking at it regularly for a bit of inspiration or encouragement when things don’t seem to be coming out as I envisioned in my head
Just carried my teacup away from the table where I’m finishing off some hand quilting. I won’t forget again! Sorry to say I don’t have a cat, but I’m clumsy enough on my own.
This incident makes me want to ask you – when you wash a finished quilt that has embroidery and applique, do you also have the problem of threads shrinking ? Or does the dense quilting keep evrything in place ?
Sara, the quilting most definitely helps secure things in place (locks it in). Because I also use a wool batt, this too helps keeps the applique firm and reduces the amount of shrinking too. A cotton batt would add another element to the shrinking problem, unless you were to pre-wash the batt.
There will be some shrinking in the end, but it is not enough to be concerned with in regards over the visual end result. With the exception of Pharaoh, all of the quilts I have made have been washed. Yes, even those with colored pencils.
I spilled Coca Cola on the American still Life quilt. I told you I am a slow learner. LOL
Pharaoh could be washed if needed though.
Kathy you and me both! I would love to tell you the do-over would look exactly the same, but I would be lying.
Welcome to the clumsy club you are among friends.
Denise,
Synthrapol has been the saving grace of not only quilts, but when my kids were little, it took markers, ink whatever out of their clothes as a stain pre-soak and wash.
It also helps if you wash some fabrics together and one of them is naughty. Put them back through with a little Synthrapol and all is right again.