[jrabbit]

I had an *oops* incident yesterday: a plastic bin of fabric was discovered to have been WET. I don't know how long it was wet, but there was evidence of mildew. <so so sad>

I've washed all the fabric now, in hot water, air dried - will sun on a line when the weather clears up, but I just wanted to get the worst over.

In the box was some antique hand-made lace and a crocheted apron. The black spots did *not* come out of those. But most of the fabric looks fine, upon brief inspection. The room where it's all drying does not smell mildewy, at least.

The last thing in the box were quilt squares that I had laid out on felt. The white felt is stained with the dyes from some of the fabrics, leading me to believe that most of the fabric was unwashed. But, I confess, I did the layout some time ago, and I don't remember the origin of the fabrics, nor the washing instructions. I relocated all the squares to a towel for drying - and I'd really like to finish the quilt. So, can anyone recommend what to do next? I was thinking I could piece them all (machine) and then wash it before finishing the quilt. These pieces don't *look* like they got mildewed, but since I know what happened, I just think I'll be more comfortable when the whole thing gets washed. (it's the size of a throw or small blanket) I was making the quilt for my daughter - of course, I could always make another one, but ya know, it won't be the same thing ...

thanks for any advice you can offer!
--janis
(trying to get back into the crafting/sewing life now that I'm no longer a business-owner)

 

[iowaorganic]

as for the quilt squares- I would just wash them by hand and see what you think after they dry.

as for the antiques- don't give up hope! I have seen a product at quilt stores that is specially made for antique quilts and linens- it is supposed to be magic- I have wanted to try some- but it is pretty spendy.... I would definitely give that a whirl.... just call around to quilt shops and ask for an antique quilt/linen cleaner.

 

[jrabbit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowaorganic as for the quilt squares- I would just wash them by hand and see what you think after they dry.

At this point, I think that it was not mildewed (fabrics are dark green & blue, and lots of pattern, so I can't swear to it) - so I'm not worried about them in that regard. They dried out quickly.

I guess that since this quilt is going to be used and washed often, I wish the fabric were pre-washed. But I made it at a quilting class from someone else's stashes, and I don't know what her philosophy was about washing fabrics.

Thanks for the tip about the quilt cleaner - I'll try to find some.

--janis

 

[~mama jewel~]

If you really wanted to prewash/shrink in your washing machine, you could put the little squares inside a lingerie/mesh zip mesh bag (they're found in the ironing board section of Target for less than $5). That way they won't get lost in your washing machine or dryer. Good luck with your project.

 

[jrabbit]

yeah, unfortunately, it's an art quilt, and I don't really want to/can't replicate that ... do you think that if I sew the squares together, THEN washed it, would the quilt be lumpy?

--janis

 

[lightheart]

If the fabric is going to shrink it's going to shrink whether you wash it now before you piece the quilt or later after all the sewing is done. I would think if the pieces are already cut apart that you would have a better time in actually ending up with a finished quilt if you go ahead and sew the pieces together then wash. The reason I say this is because if you did wash the pieces and something shrank a bunch then your not going to have enough material to make it fit. (an option though would be that you could replace certain pieces of fabric with some that you have on hand or go out and buy/find.

Lets say you did piece the fabric together into the quilt top, you could wash it before you made the quilt sandwich and whatever would shrink would shrink and you could compensate for some of the puckers with the quilt design you put on the finished quilt. (you do that typically if you end up with some weird puckering caused from not sewing the top acurately... you can 'hide' missed points and stuff)

If you were to wash the quilt top before you sandwiched it you may want to go ahead and sew some sort of border strip around the outside edge, something you were planning on taking off or cutting down so that if you had a bunch of fraying of the edges you wouldn't get frustrated. You could also hem the edge and plan on taking out that hem, I would go with the boarder though because even hemmed edges sometimes fray.

Fraying is something that you would need to worry about too if you washed the pieces individually, all those raw edges... be careful and either do by hand or on a very gentle cycle, drying them too, be careful with them.

I like to iron seams as I sew, if you were to go ahead and piece then wash I wouldn't iron as I went along because if there is mold or yuck in the fabric you may set it in, bear with the fabric and get it sewed then wash then iron.

Bleeding of dyes, something else to consider, one reason you prewash is to get the excess dyes out, if you go ahead and piece then wash you might run into having the the dyes run and bleed. One solution for this is shout makes something called a color catcher, it is like a fabric softener sheet but you use it in the wash, it 'catches' the dyes (have no idea behind the science of how it works, but I know from personal experience they do work)

FWIW, the lady I look to for quilt guidance has been piecing and quilting at least 40 years, she never prewashes her fabric. (well I shouldn't say never because she will wash her batiks and deep colors like reds especially if it's going into a white used also quilt that she wants to keep white) I wouldn't say that her quilts are "lumpy" some have puckers like old timey quilts but that's because they are old timey ones that have been washed and washed through the years.

Good luck!

 

[jrabbit]

Thanks a bunch, Lightheart. I will be piecing this together as soon as I clean up the craft room ... kids have made it crazy again!