It’s another week! How did you do with your list last week? I didn’t get around to getting my Moxie blog post written, I just wasn’t feeling well enough this week. My brain sort of took a hiatus and the words would just not come freely. Speaking of, I’m sorry for the delayed blog responses and visits to your linked up blogs. I hope to do much better this week, since I have been feeling better the past couple of days.
This past weekend I prewashed all of the fabric for the Urban Churn Dash/Spiderman quilt. Boy, was that the right call. My first color catcher came out as red as the fabric! I ran it through again with two color catchers and they came out pink-ish. So, definitely the right call to get everything washed! Whew!
After washing the fabric, I got all of the pieces for the top cut out, and started sewing. The HST’s are sewn and cut in half, and half of the Flying Geese are done. I sewed the two fabrics for the 4-patch center in WOF strips and I just need to subcut those to make the 4-patch block. I’m hoping that I can get all the parts of the block sewn together by the end of Tuesday (as I’m off of work), and then get the top finished over the weekend. I’d really like to be ahead of schedule on this quilt, since I ended up so far behind on the other.
I spent Saturday with my boss/co-workers teaching them to sew this cloak tutorial from Finding Storybook Land. My boss and her daughter (actually, my friends!) wanted to make hooded cloaks for their granddaughters/nieces. Neither women had any sewing experience, so I had a very enjoyable day teaching them the basics of their machine, how to clean and oil it, and some basic apparel sewing. They did all the sewing, all I did was explain the instructions and guide them when they had questions. I was blown away at how quickly they picked up sewing, and how wonderful their cloaks turned out. It’s so great being able to share this skill with others… I hope they enjoyed the experience as much as I did!
What are your plans for this week?
This week’s To-Do list:
- Write Moxie 2 Quilt post
- Continue making Urban Churn Dash blocks, complete top.
Now it’s your turn! Write up your post and link up using the InLinkz linky below.
Rules:
- Link up to this To-Do Tuesday blog post using the InLinkz linky below. You can link up Instagram photos now! The link up is open all week, and you can link any post for the week even if it’s written on the prior Sunday or Monday. It simply needs to be related to setting, working on, and/or completing your weekly goal(s).
- Try to visit at least one or two other blogs and leave a nice comment.
- Include a link back to my blog. Feel free to grab the blog button from the sidebar to show that you’re participating in To-Do Tuesday.
- You do not have to follow my blog to participate, but if you do decide to follow me… thank you! I appreciate it!
[inlinkz_linkup id=492748 mode=1]
Stitch ALL The Things 
I am so glad you listened to your inner voice and pre-washed that fabric! It sounds like you had a great teaching experience this weekend. 🙂
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I am so happy when I can share my love of sewing with other people; and even more to see the look of happiness on their face when they create something!
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Such a happy thing to do, sharing what you know!
I’ve tried to find the color catcher’s at the grocery store, and must be looking in the wrong place, where did you find yours? I might check with my LQS and see if they have any recommendations. Cannot wait to see the spiderman quilt.
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I have found Shout Color Catchers at Walmart in the laundry aisle, next to the pre-treating liquids. Recently I did find some at the grodery store, but it’s only because Brad spotted it on the top shelf next to the Fels-Naptha soap. I would have missed it otherwise! It’s in a red box, similar to the dryer sheets box. Good luck finding some!
I’ve heard Retayne works amazingly well too, so I’ll be buying some of that just in case!
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Hi, I’m a hand-dyer with some experience with fabrics that bleed. Here’s a bit more info on that.
Most fabrics bleed because they have excess dye in them.
Color catchers ‘trap’ the excess dye in the wash water before it can settle back on fabrics you don’t want it on. If your pre-washing fabric by itself, the color catcher doesn’t help much. But, it can let you know how much of a problem you’ve got. Color catchers are more useful when you’re washing a quilt that has fabrics in it that might bleed.
Synthrapol (another available product) works by helping to get the excess dye released into the water where it can be washed away. A good (and inexpensive) substitute is the blue Dawn dishwashing detergent.
Retayne works the opposite of Synthrapol. It helps get the loose dye molecules to bond with your fabric.
Here’s what I do with bleeding fabrics:
-For any fabric that is likely to bleed (this includes all batiks, all hand-dyes, and all reds), I initially throw the fabric into some hot water with a bit of dawn detergent in it and leave it to soak. If that water doesn’t get colored, there is no problem.
-If it is bleeding into the water, I’ll soak it and/or wash it several times with synthrapol or Dawn detergent until the water runs clear.
-If it still bleeds after that, I’ll try Retayne. If that’s not enough, then I don’t think the fabric will every stop bleeding–it goes in the garbage.
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Allie,
Thank you SO MUCH for this information!! I really appreciate knowing what situations to use Synthrapol and in which to use Retayne. Also, I’m not usually brand-specific about things, but one of the few products I am specific about is Dawn… So thankfully I have that here and I will definitely be putting your methods into practice.
Thank you again, I really appreciate the time and effort you put into such a detailed and educational response!
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