Guess who won a quilt? Guess who has a problem with said prize?

I always wash quilts acording to the fabric rather than anything else, so hot water, bio washing powder (or non-bio and OXY, which I prefer) Fabric conditioner in the final rinse. Oh and washing machine rather than by hand as it does a more thorough job. If being gentle hasn't sorted it, bring out the big guns. It certainly can't make it worse.

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Congratulations and commiseration, Pat. :S I don't have any suggestions, but I wish you luck.

I'm so sorry to hear the quilt was inadvertently abused that way! But here's my suggestion -- hang on to it for one year, and then return it to the church to raffle again! I have done this a couple of times, saying something along the lines of "I have really enjoyed this _____ for a year, and my family and friends have admired it, too. However, it's time to share it, so how about if the church raffles it again? Let the next winner enjoy it, too, and then pass it on someday for family, friend, or even another raffle winner. Some things should be shared."

ack!! sounds like someone didnt actually stitch over the blue dots as they should have? is that what happened? how sad to take all that time and work embroidering and then leave those in. might be if you cant wash it out you can disguise it somehow. how would a bunch of new French Knots look over those dots? got a close up pix of it? j.

"Pat in Virginia" wrote ... Today I won a quilt at a church raffle. It is an embroidered quilt. The fabric was purchased with the blue dots for the embroidery and for the hand quilting stitching. The maker finished the quilt and did not remove the blue dots. She may even have pressed the quilt top. In any case, the quilt hung for weeks in a very sunny atrium at the church. So, I suspect the blue dots are heat set. I have already washed the quilt in cold water with horse soap. The dots did not wash out. It is now on a rack to dry. Does any one have any experience or advice for removing the blue dots? Thanks bunches! PAT in Sunny Virginia

I've removed ironed on blue quilt marker lines with Tide Pen to Go...aka, peroxide. Nothing else worked and I figured I'd give it a go in a tiny spot to see what happened. It worked! You might want to take a Qtip or toothpick with a bitty drop of peroxide and try it on one 'dot' and see what happens. I hope you can find a solution that's easy. Congratulations on your win too! Donna

Peroxide is standard equipment in my sewing room. In a hundred years of stitching (more or less) it hasn't harmed anything yet and may have killed a germ or two. It's certainly worth a try. Never tried it on baked-in blue marks. Might take 2 tries. Might not work at all but we'll cross our fingers. Polly

And throw in a color catcher/dye magnet to catch any runs from the floss.

Julia > I always wash quilts acording to the fabric rather than anything else,

what is a colour catcher magnet please??

its a thingamabobby you toss in to the machine when you wash. just as it is called, it grabs excess dye like a magnet grabs stray pins/needles. sometimes dye colours run in fabrics and embroidery threads sometimes too. it is one of the reasons a lot of us wash every fabric before it goes near the sewing room. nothing worse than taking all that time, energy and expense to make a beautiful quilt just to have the colour run when it is first washed. doesnt happen often but once is more than anyone wants.

check the laundry detergent aisle in your supermarket. if its not there, ask if they can get any.

"Ruby" wrote ... what is a colour catcher magnet please??

Julia > And throw in a color catcher/dye magnet to catch any runs from the floss. >

Needleworkers call this "blue line embroidery" and I have done more than my fair share of it! Even an experienced stitcher like myself has trouble covering up the blue stuff all the time. Quite often, one washing doesn't even come close to removing the tell tale blue lines or dots. I'd give the quilt two or three additional washings before even thinking about giving up on it. Of course, that's assuming you actually like the quilt! Use cool water and regular soap -- certainly can't hurt the thing at this point and if the stitcher used DMC or Anchor floss (more likely than not) the stitching won't run! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

Jeanne: Both the embroiderer and the hand quilter followed the dots very nicely. Even so, the thread doesn't quite cover each and every dot. If I had to do French Knots over all those THOUSANDS of dots I'd go mad, simply mad! Pat

I'd donate it somewhere. Is it a quilt that could be comfortable and warm? Someone who isn't a quilter will see beautiful work rather than little blue spots. Maybe. But I bet therer are places that would welcome your reject.

Sunny

Pat a few years ago I had someone ask me about the same thing. She had a quilt that was many years old, and not finished. (Started by a relative...) She finished it and washed it and still had blue marks. I suggested BIZ. She tried it and had good luck. (Be sure the batting, etc is not silk or wool.) I saw the quilt hanging in the fair, got real up close with it even, and virtually all the blue marks came out. So there is hope.

Have fun, Pati, > Today I won a quilt at a church raffle. It is an embroidered quilt. The

Thanks, Pati. I do need to get Biz anyhow. Last night someone said that a quilt appraiser recently stated that a 'new' product "Spray & Wash with Resolve" is excellent for problem stains. When the storm passes I will venture out to buy those products, then I can test each on a small place of the quilt. Meantime, I need to start building my Arc! It is raining and blowing hard here. The guild meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled. Pat in Wet Virginia

The quilt is much too nice to be a reject! If I can't remove the blue marks, I will enjoy the reverse of the quilt, as a fantastic white on white!

Pat in Windy Virginia

Mary, As I mentioned elsewhere today, the 'reverse' of the quilt presents as a lovely white on white. So, even if the marks do not fade, I can enjoy it very much.

I would not return the quilt, although your idea certainly has merit in some situations, perhaps in a large urban setting. This is a fairly small parish and it would be too hurtful to the lovely woman who produces these embroidered tops every year. Did I mention that the cross stitching is very uniform and precise? Each X is stitched with the top thread in same direction all over the quilt. Nice.

Besides, I have not yet begun to fight the blue marks! There are other ways to approach the problem, as noted here in RCTQ. I appreciate all the suggestions and will let you all know how it turns out.

TTFN, Pat in Stormy Virginia

Howdy!

BIZ I use BIZ on all manner of quilts and clothes (we don't do silk here). Good luck, Pat!

Must ask about your Arc - are you planning to curve around this storm? Vaya con Dios.

R/Sandy

As soon as I hit 'send' I realized I had not corrected my spelling error!! (Blushing.) So, along with the Ark, I guess I have to 'build' an Arc .... easily done by arranging thread stash into a Rainbow of Colors!! The wood for the Ark is now available ... a goodly portion of a neighbor's large tree is now in my yard! No houses, animals, people, nor stash was hurt in the incident. Pat in wet Virginia