Welcome to my post for the Bloggers Quilt Festival. I had planned to share some detail photographs of one of my favorite quilts called "Improvizo! or Jimmy's Quilt". It's got lots of hand embroidery and embellishment and was juried into Paducah and Houston and appeared in the Quilt Art Calender. I unrolled the quilt and put it on my work table to photograph.
I took the first few photos of Arlechino's body.
Lots of the fabrics and the embroidery threads were hand dyed.
Then I took a good look at the white areas and made a terrible discovery: the dye has migrated and stained the white areas of the figure while the quilt has been rolled up.
It's even in the blue background.
I was so worried about sun damage that I've always kept it rolled up. Anybody out there who hand dyes have any suggestions?
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29 comments:
No idea on what could help. So sad for you :( but it's still a beautiful quilt! I hope someone has a wonderful answer for you!
Thanks, Serena. I hope somebody knows a good trick to help me.
Kind regards,
Dana
It is beautiful!
Thank you, Zonnah.
Kind regards,
Dana
beautiful quilt!!! i love the details!!
I have had problems with dye bleeding into other areas and here is what I've done to solve my problem. Take a sheet of Dye Magnet or Shout Out Colour sheets and baste a piece of the sheet directly onto the area where the dye bled out as well as the area where the bleed out came from. Wash in cool water and air dry. If you are drying flat, then have the piece face down and let any excess dye move onto the Dye Magnet sheet. Once it dries, you should see the sheet has absorbed the dye and the area underneath should be back to normal. You may have to repeat the process a few times.
For storing, use acid free tissue paper for folding so that no materials touch each other.
It is a beautiful quilt and I hope someone can help you with the dye. I enjoyed seeing it.
I can tell even with just these small glimpses that this is one magnificant quilt. not sure what to do about the dye, sorry
I have a turkey red and white quilt that I can never wash for the same reason--terrified of dye migration. I think it's been worse since the industry has stopped using harsh chemicals to set the dyes. Now we quilters deal with the problem.
But, it's still lovely, still fascinating. Care to show the whole thing?
--ELIZABETH E, #115
Dear Rose Marie,
Thank you so very much for your suggestions for removing the dye. I have a ton of acid-free paper from when I was doing etching. I didn't even think of that. I really appreciate your help.
Thank you Melinda.
Lee, you are very sweet to say that.
Hi Elizabeth,
There's a link in the post to a much older blog post that shows the entire quilt, but it's a picture of a picture. I will have to get my husband to help me by holding it, but I will get a new picture on the blog in a few days. Thanks for your message.
Kind regards to all of you,
Dana
Washing in synthrapol and HOT water usually gets rid of unfixed dye (which is what will have migrated) though I can't guarantee it. If you have some left over scraps of the fabric and thread which has bled try washing these with some white fabric first to check. Synthrapol is available from dye suppliers. For future reference, before use wash dyed fabrics/threads in hot water and synthrapol (I leave mine to steep in boiling water for 10-20 minutes and then rinse: if a lot of colour still comes out after the first couple of rinses then it will need doing again. And don't worry about the fabric getting paler - it shouldn't as what's coming out is dye that hasn't bonded to the fabric.
Thanks so much, Sandra, for these specific instructions. I really appreciate it.
Kind regards,
Dana
ugh...my heart aches for you. I didn't know it could bleed when rolled up. Did you a beautiful job. The hand work is outstanding!
Thanks so much. I hope I can get the worst of it out.
Kind regards,
Dana
This is a beautiful quilt! I'm so sad that this has happened to your treasure. Hopefully you can find a solution, but if not it is still a fabulous textile! ~ Sarah
Thank you, Sarah. I've gotten some great suggestions and hopefully I can make them work.
Kind regards,
Dana
That is too bad especially after all that work. I had some silk ribbon that bled one time and they said to soak in vinegar water, it worked. But I would call one of the dye companies like Jaquard or Dharma to check and see if they could suggest anything. Good Luck!
Thanks so much for the suggestions and for your visit.
Kind regards,
Dana
Like everyone else, I would love to see the entire quilt - it looks gorgeous. Wishing you all the best on solving the migrating dye situation. Sounds like you have some good possibilities to try. Often the problem with dyes moving comes during the drying stage rather than washing, though yours may have been during actual storage? I know there are natural remedies also involving salt, etc. - perhaps do some Googling?
It may take some effort to remove the dye run but I believe it is doable with Synthrapol...there are other aids out there too...
When you get it restored, hang that beauty on a wall away from a window....
If you roll it again...put a sheet on top before you start rolling...the sheet will keep the quilt from rolling on itself and protect it.
It's so beautiful. I hope you come up with a solution to the dye problem. Wish I could help. Best of luck.
It's still a beautiful quilt.
Very kind beautiful duvet .
Thanks, Deborah and Marika. It will always be my lucky quilt.
All the best,
Dana
It sounds like you've gotten a lot of good helps! Thanks for sharing your dilema-it may help the rest of us too. (And lots of lovely details in your photos!!)
Thanks so much. Yes, I am hopeful that I can get it looking better soon.
I appreciate your visit.
All the best,
Dana
Oh my! This is so lovely, but how sad about the color bleeding. Hope the dye catcher helps.
Yes, me, too. Thanks for your visit.
All the best,
Dana
You need to wash any dyed fabrics several times and with synthrapol and at least 140 degree water (hotter than many newer heaters let you get!) in order to be assured that all the dye is out. With an already pieced quilt (and it looks like some not-so-good in hot water fabrics) you may not have recourse, unless you can wash it in very hot water with synthrpol. That bled out color is not permanently bonded, just a migrating stain.
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