Well, this is a first for me. There's always a first, right?
Now I will admit I have a few faint blue marks where the water soluble blue marker didn't come out on the Breaking Up quilt. I didn't follow my standard protocol of marking, quilting, and spraying with water immediately. Instead, the marks were there for a couple hours. When I did spray, 95% of it came out. But here and there were faint blue lines.
So, the quilt went in the tub for an overnight soak. Since the quilt was wet, it was hard to tell if the marks had come out. After washing with a bit of detergent, and a few minutes in the dryer, the marks were still there. Though hard to see unless you're really looking at the quilting, I still wanted them out.
I've heard of products to remove washable blue line marks, one of which I happen to have. It's a Clover Eraser Pen, and unfortunately, did nothing. Maybe it would work better immediately after making the blue mark.
Then, some phone calls. My two local quilt shops carried nothing, nor were they helpful on removal suggestions. So much for product testing.
Next try was one of my favorite stain removers, Dawn dish washing liquid. It's my go-to stain fighter whenever tomato sauce, chocolate, mustard, or grease get on fabric. I heard quilters use it when fabric bleeds and nothing else will work. So hey, why not here?
Again, here's the picture with the faint blue lines, at the arrows.
Here's a picture of the same area after treatment with a 50% solution of Dawn and water.
Notice the lines are gone. For reference, the arrow in the picture points to a blue line that was NOT treated, so you can tell the difference. Amazing!
Being the somewhat lazy person that I am, I was not going to go over this quilt with a fine tooth brush to find every trace of blue line. They are very random, and hard to see. Remember, 95% came out.
Solution? Into the bathtub again for a soak in Dawn and water. Occasionally, I went in an massaged the quilt, leaving it in the bath for a couple hours. Then into the wash.
The result? Marks are gone! I'm impressed!
Again, the before:
and the after, with the blue line marked with a pin, so that I could find the same spot again.
Hooray! Here's another area that had noticeable blue lines, marked with a pin, though I didn't take a before picture.
Not a trace of blue! Sweet! Guess the secret is out - Dawn makes an awesome stain remover! So if you ever run across the blue line problem, give Dawn a try. It's worth a shot.
Happy Quilting!
A finish before the weekend!
Breaking Up,
a pattern from my June Book of the Month selection, Melissa Corry's Irish Chain Quilts, (affiliate link)is quite the beauty!
The pattern is quick and easy to put together, and the navy chains and binding make this quilt really shine! I'm loving navy as an alternative to black - so much nicer visually.
Given that the inspiration fabric was full of peaches, I kept that theme going in the quilting. After drawing a design to fit the space, it was traced onto netting, then onto the quilt with a washout marker.
Using the lines as guidelines, I had some zen moments quilting all those peaches, leaves, and curls.
As for the washout marker, that's a story for the next post, removing blue water soluble marker. For now, let's focus on the prettiness of this quilt!
Here's the whole peach motif, which was rotated around to fit properly in the spaces.
Though the thread looks gold, it's actually Glide's Sea Foam green, and was perfect for this quilt.
It's also on the back,
adding a nice sparkle to the navy.
See the nine-patches on the back? Took a day to make those into the backing. They're a bit lost here, so I'll be a bit more careful the next time I add something like this.
This quilt is a perfect addition to my house, picking up the red and beige, with the pops of green and blue. Who knew I was making a decorator item!
And thank you, Melissa, for a great pattern!
Have a great weekend quilting!
Progress report on Breaking Up, the pattern by Melissa Corry in her Irish Chain Quilts (affiliate link) book. I now have rows!
What started out as a few peach inspired nickel squares along with other nickels and fat quarters that played nice,
has turned out to be one pretty quilt! Sorry, you only get the two block preview above - I'm going to make you wait for the finish!
After a trip to the store for Kona Navy on Wednesday, the last two afternoons have been spent piecing. Talk about a fast quilt to put together!
Of course, there were a few hiccups, mainly because I didn't pay close attention to the illustrations. This part of the block is rotated counterclockwise to get the navy squares in the right spot.
Silly me just happily sewed the navy parts on without regard to orientation. Oops! Thankfully, I could rotate the piece without having to resew everything. Definitely made me pay attention in other areas of the block construction.
I love the navy in this quilt, just as she had used it. Considering it the new black! Brings a bit more life to a quilt than black, and gives great contrast. Makes me think I should have a bolt of Kona Snow and Navy on hand all the time, as they are becoming my go to colors.
And for you Happy Quilting Melissa fans, she's got another quilt-along, Summer Solstice, starting this month. I did this Irish Chain Twist with her last year,
and hope to have time to do Summer Solstice. I'm participating in a few blog hops, which means designing patterns. One is done, though not stitched out, and the other is still a vision in my head. Lots of work ahead!
I do hope you have a wonderful weekend, quilting or not!
The June Book of the Month honor goes to Melissa Corry's Irish Chain Quilts! (affiliate link)
Purchased months ago and buried in a stack of books, it's been rediscovered after moving to a place in the bookcase.
Leafing through, I've chosen the pattern Breaking Up,
a nice sized lap quilt around 56" x 74", and quite striking, don't you think?
I went through the 5" squares again, and found several squares of a pretty peach print as my starting point. It's the one in the center.
I'll get started with what I can, as a trip for a navy blue solid is in order. Can you believe there's none in my stash?
Have a great day quilting!
