Rescue Your Quilts! Fix & Prevent Fabric Bleed

One of the most disappointing things that can happen to a quilter is fabric bleed. We spend long hours cutting and piecing our precious creation. So, when it comes out of the wash with colours bleeding, it can be devastating. 

I've been working on a red and white Christmas quilt lately and wanted to prevent this disaster before it happened. These are some of the tip and tricks I gathered for preventing and fixing quilt bleed.

PREVENTION

• Prewash your all your coloured fabrics before cutting them up. I never did this until I started reading about other people's guilt bleed nightmares.
  
  
• When your quilt is finished, wash it alone in cold water.  Add 1 cup of salt to the wash with a mild laundry soap. I use Woolite® 
  
  
• Commercial "colour catchers" sheets are another option. These are laundry sheets you put in your wash load to prevent colour runs. There are several on the market you can try.
  
  

FIXING

• If there are only a few spots of bleed through on white fabric, spray the area with a mild water and bleach solution (3 part water to 1 part bleach in a spray bottle). Then, rub with a small amount of Dawn® dish soap and water. In place of the water/bleach spray, my secret to getting stains and bleed out of whites is Clorox Clean-Up® spray. It's normally used to clean hard surfaces but works on white fabrics as well.
  
  
• In the event of a real disaster (God forbid), Dawn® dish soap to the rescue!
  Go to Susie Quilts for full instructions for fixing a badly bled quilt.

I hope these tips and tricks for quilt bleeds have been helpful. If you have anymore ideas for "quilt bleed", please leave them in the comments.

Quilting with White Fabric: Pros & Cons

White background fabrics make stunning quilts. The high contrast makes the colours pop. However, there are a few pitfalls when using white fabric that can be frustrating and even ruin your quilt. I made this featured quilt for my mother-in-law and almost didn't give it to her. But, I was in a crunch for time so I decided to gift it to her anyway and hope she didn't notice too many of the flaws. If she did notice, she never said anything.

TIPS FOR QUILTING WITH WHITE FABRIC

1.  USE A LIGHT COLOURED BACKING FABRIC

Because I was in a hurry, I used the quilt-as-you-go method to assemble this quilt. To make it "reversible" I used a variety of scrap layer cakes for the backing. I don't know if it was the batting (Hobbs Heirloom Fusible White Cotton) but the coloured background, as you can see below, showed right through to the front! Try using light coloured backing when using white.

2.  BUY ENOUGH WHITE FABRIC FROM THE SAME BOLT

When you buy your white fabric, purchase enough for the whole project. Even if white fabric is from the same dye lot and colour number, shades can vary slightly. I ran out of  white for this project and used left over white from another project. They looked the same under the studio lighting. But, when my hubby held up the quilt in the sunny kitchen, the left over white pieces definitely had a yellow cast.

3.  AVOIDING & FIXING "SHADOWS"

I love Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) and have done many blocks using this technique. When I used a white fabric in a FPP project for the first time, however, frustrating "shadows" from the darker seams showed through.  Be sure to trim your darker seams before putting your blocks together. Also, check for any dark threads that my show through.

4.  BEST WAYS TO PREVENT FABRIC BLEED

Any quilt can bleed colours, but quilts with white backgrounds can be ruined by colour bleed. Here are a few tips to prevent this problem:

• Prewash your fabrics, especially reds and purples.
  
  
• When your quilt is finished, wash it alone on cool setting.  Add 1 cup of salt to the wash with a mild laundry soap.
  
  
• "Color catchers" are another option. These are laundry sheets you put in your load to prevent colour runs while allowing mixed washes. There are several on the market you can try.
  
  
• If there are only a few spots of bleed through on the white fabric after washing, spray the area with a mild water and bleach solution (3 part water to 1 part bleach in a spray bottle) rub with a small amount of Dawn dish soap and water.  
  My secret trick for getting stains and bleed off whites is Clorox Clean-Up® spray. It's normally used to clean hard surfaces but seems to work on fabrics as well.
  
  

Quilting Hack for Stray Threads and Seam Shadows by Thistledown and Company Quilts 

White Fabric: Is it worth the trouble? by Karen Brown at Just Get It Done Quilts

Make Super Easy Checkerboard Blocks - SCRAP BUSTER!

INSTRUCTIONS

I discovered this technique for making scrap checkerboard blocks several years ago. I used it to make my grand-niece a doll quilt (above). With these few easy steps, the results are so worth it. When you're finished, every square will be aligned perfectly and you'll have a strong base to join the blocks so they won't stretch out of shape.

Finished Block: 12"x 12" (30 cm x 30 cm))

1.  First, you'll need a non-woven, lightweight, single-sided fusible interfacing. I purchased this very inexpensive one on Amazon.

2.  Cut [18] 2½-inch (6 cm) colour squares and [18] 2½-inch (6 cm) light colour squares.

3.  Cut [1] 13" x 13" (31 cm x 31 cm) square of interfacing.

4.  Place squares 1/2" from the edges on the adhesive side of the interfacing. Butt together the squares as shown below alternating between light and dark colours.

5.  Place a piece of cotton over the squares and press to adhere them to the fusible web.

6. Fold the first row right sides facing and sew a  "fat" 1/4" seam allowance. Repeat this until all the rows are stitched.

7.  Your first set of rows will look like this.

8.  Trim a about 1/8" off the edge of each seam row and press seam open. Be very careful to not cut the stitches!

9.  Stitch the horizontal rows and trim the seams the same as you did with the vertical rows.

10.  Press down all your seams. This is what your stitched squares will look like from behind.

11.  Press block and square up if necessary. You can see how precisely the squares are lined up.

If you need help organizing your scraps before you start, go to my scrap sorting tutorials below:

Sorting Fabric Scraps: Part 1

Sorting Fabric Scraps: Part 2 | Cutting Scraps for 9-Patch Scrap Quilts

How to Make Flange Quilt Binding

I love flange quilt binding. It gives quilts an elegant and finished look. I don't use it on all my projects, but sometimes a quilt needs that extra pop. Flange binding takes a little extra work, but it's well worth the effort when you see the finished result. I made the following tutorial as comprehensive as possible and hope it will help you give flange binding a try.

INSTRUCTIONS

1)  CALCULATE THE LENGTH OF BINDING YOU WILL NEED FOR YOUR QUILT

EXAMPLE:
Finished quilt size = 54" × 60"

• (54" × 2) + (60" × 2) + 10" = 238" (10" extra is added for finishing the binding). 
• (238" ÷ 36") = 6.6 yards
• You will need 6.6 ≈ 7 yards of binding for a 54" × 60" finished quilt. 

2)  WIDTHS TO CUT FOR FLANGE AND MAIN COLOUR STRIPS

1. Decide on a binding width you need.
2. Use the chart below to get the widths to cut the strips for main colour and the flange.

3)  ASSEMBLING & ATTACHING BINDING

1. Sew both strips together lengthwise with a 1/4" seam allowance.
   Press the seam towards the main colour strip.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Fold the strips over lengthwise (wrong sides facing), line up the top edges and press.
   
   
   
   
   
3. With right side of quilt down, stitch binding around the edge of the quilt
   with a ¼ seam allowance.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Fold binding to the front of the quilt and stitch-in-the-ditch between the
   flange and the main colour.
   
   
   
   
   

DETERMINE YARDAGE NEEDED FOR BINDING STRIPS

1.  CALCULATE NUMER OF STRIPS TO CUT BASED ON YOUR FABRIC WIDTH

EXAMPLE:  238" (length of binding in inches) ÷ 42" (fabric cross grain width) = 5.6 ≈ 6 strips

2.  CALCULATE THE YARDAGE NEEDED FOR YOUR STRIPS

MAIN STRIPS

EXAMPLE 

• 1.25" x 6 (number of strips needed) = 7.5" + 2" = 9.5" (2" added for uneven edges).
• Yardage needed for main colour strips: 9.5" x 42"

FLANGE STRIPS

EXAMPLE  

• 1.5" x 6 (number of strips needed) = 9" + 2" = 11" (2" added for uneven edges).
• Yardage needed for flange strips: 11" x 42"

How To Cut Scraps for 9-Patch Quilt Blocks

A year ago, I posted a tutorial for sorting fabric scraps. I decided to supplement that post with a quick tutorial for cutting fabric scrap squares for 9-patch blocks. Because of their versatility, 9-patch blocks are great for making scrap quilts. The easiest square size to start with is 5 inches should you have a lot of Charm Pack and Layer Cake scraps.

SQUARE SIZES

The easiest square size to start with is 5" should you have a lot of Charm Pack and Layer Cake scraps.

• 5 inch - Finished Size: 4½ inch   (12.5 cm - Finished Size: 6.25 cm )
• 2¾ inch - Finished Size: 2¼ inch   (7 cm - Finished Size: 3.5 cm)
• 2 inch - Finished Size: 1½ inch   (5 cm - Finished Size: 2.5 cm)

YOU WILL NEED

• A good assortment of quilt cotton fabric scraps
• Iron and ironing board
• Rotary cutter (have fresh blades available)
• 6" x 12" and/or 8" x 8" quilt ruler

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Separate your scraps into individual colours: yellow, orange, purple, red, etc. This is a very important step. You don't want to have to sort little 2-inch squares by colour, trust me!

2. Sort scraps by size. 

3. Press all the scraps before cutting. A quick way to do this is to layer about 4 to 6 pieces and steam press.

4. Before cutting squares, stack several pieces and line up the top right corner.

5. Line up your ruler about 1/4" away from the top right corner of the fabrics and trim.

6. Rotate the fresh-cut corner to the lower left. Line up your square size at the corner and trim. If some of the offcuts are large enough, cut squares from these as well.

STORING YOUR SQUARES

Store your squares neatly according to colour. Over time you'll accumulate a lot of squares, so finding the right box for them is a good idea. I normally use plastic bins from the dollar store. The container below is a cookie tray from Costco. Use whatever works.

How to Accurately Cut Fabric for Foundation Paper Piecing

I love foundation paper piecing (FPP), but one of the most frustrating problems I had when I was a newbie was coming up short. I would be happily piecing my block, go to flip the next section to press it, and crap! It would be too short or too thin or both. Even worse, I'd be pressing a finished block and find a "hole" at a seam where a piece came up short...ugh! I eventually discovered a method that has worked great for me.

I first saw this technique in Simply Amazing Spiral Quilts by RaNae Merrill. I modified it slightly by using freezer paper. It's a simple and foolproof method for cutting your FPP fabric pieces. This method is especially great for when you have multiples of the same block.

INSTRUCTIONS

YOU WILL NEED

• Foundation piecing template that has been mirrored.
• 8½" x 11" sheet of freezer paper
• Scissors
• Rotary cutter
• Quilting ruler
• Fabrics for your block
• Coloured pencils or markers to match your fabrics.

1. Print your template on the dull side of your freezer paper.

2. Colour each section of the template with the fabric colour you want to use for that section. If a section is a white or cream colour, you can make a symbol to represent that colour or leave it blank.

3. Cut out each freezer paper section into separate pieces and lay them on the corresponding fabric with the right side of the fabric facing up. Leave a generous space all the way around each section. Press lightly with a hot iron to get the freezer paper to stick. If you need multiples of the same section, you can place the freezer paper sections on 4 to 5 layers of fabric.

4. With your quilt ruler, cut ¾ inch allowance around each section.

5. All your cut sections should look like this when you're done. They're now ready to be pieced with no surprises. It's important to NOT remove the freezer paper from the top of the stack. Pick up your fabric pieces from the bottom so you will know which piece it is.

Hexagon Colour Wheel Mug Rug Patterns

I'm introducing three new mug rug patterns to brighten your home for spring. The bright primary colours against white, black,  and grey is a crisp combination. You could use these as potholders as well as mug rugs. They would look lovely in a modern kitchen. They would also be a great gift for an artist or art student. This is a good project for quilters just learning to foundation piece. Instructions assume basic knowledge in foundation piecing. The pattern includes instructions for all three mug rugs.

  

Grand Piano Hot Pad

This cute Grand Piano quilted hot pad is sure to play a sweet note in your kitchen. The pattern uses one 10" square from your favourite Layer Cake and some black and white scraps. The keyboard is simple foundation paper piecing. The black bias binding completes it beautifully.

This hot pad pattern measures 12" x 9" (30cm x 22.5cm), which is the size of a small standard baking pan or dish.

I choose bright colours to set off the contrast of the black and white keyboard. Any print would look gorgeous for this project, and the black binding ties everything together, but I think a print with even a little black in it really creates a nice balance of colour.