Big, Bigger, and Biggest Big Red

The Big Red quilt is finished and I took it out for Beauty Shots. This was my favorite.

After I take a quilt outside for beauty shots, I put the quilt in the washer. Because it was made of red fabrics, I threw three Color Catchers in the machine.

Imagine my surprise when the Color Catchers turned out THIS red.

I was even more surprised when I looked at the quilt. OH CRAP! I had to deliver the quilt to Pam in a few hours. She was to present to her church group at 10 AM on Saturday. This was definitely not good.

After a second trip through the washing machine the quilt looked like this. Better, but no cigar! 

I contacted Julie and she told me about Vicki Welsh's Save My Bleeding Quilt.

The instructions say to soak the quilt in very hot water with Dawn dish detergent. For once I was glad I have a big bathtub.

The quilt must be totally submerged. I used bin covers, and weighed them down with pans filled with water.

I didn't have twelve hours to soak the quilt as Vicki recommends, but this is what the quilt looked like after soaking for four hours. Pam and I examined the quilt, and decided it was fine. So I threw it back into the washing machine for a rinse and then a wash. While that happened, we had dinner.

After a trip through the dryer, the quilt looked like this. Pam and I re-examined the quilt in detail and were both happy with it.

WHAT A RELIEF!

I can wholeheartedly recommend Vicki's method of dealing with a bleeding quilt.