Solid red background for applique?

[Judith A.]

Gentle quilters,

I have an idea for an applique quilt with a solid red background, and I am trying to decide if it will be a good idea! I am thinking of a solid, orangey red, with detailed, light coloured, needleturn applique. I know the design will be good, but I am concerned with the practicality of red. So, please share your experience!

[ol]
[li]What is your experience with washing a red background? I'm hoping to hear that you did this, this and this, and it turned out beautifully! But I'd like to hear about mistakes too, lol.
[/li]
[li]What is your experience with the dark background showing through light fabrics? I'm hoping it was not an issue. I don't want to use anything fusible in there. Actually, maybe I could put together the applique on white, and then applique the finished motif on the red. Thoughts?[/li]
[/ol]
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas you can give me! Happy quilting!

[Catherine S.]

Monica, I have not used red as a background for applique, but I did use it as the background color in a pieced quilt. The other fabrics were 30's repro so most were with white in the prints. I had washed the red fabric several times, but when I had it all finished and washed again, some of the red still bled onto the white. I had used color catchers too. A second wash took care of most of it. I made it for my bed and so no problem for me. I still love it.
As far as the applique goes, I would lay the pieces on the red and see how it looks. Does the red show too much through the applique fabric. If it shows too much, place a dryer sheet under it. If that helps hid the red, I would use Ricky's stable stuff. After it is finished and washed, you won't know it is there. Hope this helps. Just remember to wash that red several times, until a color catcher comes out clean.

[Catherine S.]

Monica,
I haven't done much appliqué, but I can certainly understand your concerns.
Just recently I had some color bleeding issues, which I feel I have resolved. You can check out my last few posts on my blog for further information. www.letscreatetoday.blogspot.com
I would definitely cut a small piece of the red, 12" square?, and soak it in hot water with a little Dawn detergent mixed in. I would keep this warm for 12 hours of soaking. You could use a styrofoam cup set inside another styrofoam cup for insulation. Just be sure your fabric swatch can swish around within the size you use. I know it sounds like a long time to wait, but if you do it right after your evening meal you won't be tempted to rinse it at 11 hours!! I have no idea the phenomenon that is associated with that last hour, but it may be just what you need to see if there is any dyes coming out. If your water is clear, rinse your little test piece out and let it dry. Then use it for testing thread colors on top of before quilting. Just a thought.
Hopefully others will have more tips for the appliqué portion.
You may want to join in our virtual retreat 'August to the end of the year' one. We'd enjoy seeing how you progress with what sounds like a beautiful project.
Luann

[Judith A.]

Monica,
I have had a few red commercial fabrics bleed. I had one red fabric that I could not get to stop bleeding, even though I washed it repeatedly in hot water. Finally I got mad at it and cooked it in hot water with some Retayne. That worked like magic. No more dye bled out.

Retayne is recommended for stopping commercial fabrics from bleeding. I use it for dark commercial fabrics that I suspect might bleed.
However, if you use Retayne, you can't wash that fabric again in hot water, or you lose the Retayne protection. Normally I wouldn't think of washing one of my quilts in hot water, so that wouldn't be a problem.
The big exception would be baby quilts. I would not use Retayne for fabrics in a baby or child's quilt. The baby/child's quilt might get washed in hot water and I wouldn't want a baby or chlld to chew on fabrics with chemicals in it.

Judy

[Geneva C.]

Monica,

I think it would be a wonderful quilt. Recently there was the red and white quilt show that was amazing. Freddie Moran says that red is a wonderful background. Her quilts are eye candy. And of course Mary Ellen Hopkins always said that "every red goes with every other red." Yvonne Porcella does wonderful quilts with red.

More importantly, if it makes you happy, go for it! That is how art is made.

Keep us posted. We'd love to watch your progress.

Geneva

[Nancy R.]

One other thing I would do when testing the applique fabric would be to fold under a corner of the fabric at the edge and see if the turned under edge shows through the top as whiter. You really don't want to see the turned under edges of your applique. Maybe you could do a small applique, maybe a pillow or something, to test your ideas and fabrics to see if it will work before going for something larger.

[Nancy R.]

Thank you, Nancy! Yes, that is my concern as well, with the seam allowances showing through. I think a test of some kind will probably be in order.

Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

Thank you, Judith! The tip about the Retayne is very helpful. The quilt will be traditional, but a wall quilt, so after it is made, it probably wouldn't be washed many more times. So that could do the trick.

Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

Cathy, your quilt sounds a lot like mine, because I plan to use 30s repros too. So yes, that's what I was afraid of! My quilt will be a wall quilt, so it won't require regular washing, but I still will have to wash it to get out all the oils once it's done. Or at least, that's been my assumption... Food for thought.

Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

Monica,

I think it would be a wonderful quilt. Recently there was the red and white quilt show that was amazing. Freddie Moran says that red is a wonderful background. Her quilts are eye candy. And of course Mary Ellen Hopkins always said that "every red goes with every other red." Yvonne Porcella does wonderful quilts with red.

More importantly, if it makes you happy, go for it! That is how art is made.

Keep us posted. We'd love to watch your progress.

Geneva

Thank you Geneva! Yes, red certainly is wonderful from a design point of view, which is why I'm thinking so hard about it! Somehow, though, I doubt Freddie washes her finished quilts. She will be on to the next one by then!

I'll let you know how things go. Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

Monica,
I haven't done much appliqué, but I can certainly understand your concerns.
Just recently I had some color bleeding issues, which I feel I have resolved. You can check out my last few posts on my blog for further information. www.letscreatetoday.blogspot.com
I would definitely cut a small piece of the red, 12" square?, and soak it in hot water with a little Dawn detergent mixed in. I would keep this warm for 12 hours of soaking. You could use a styrofoam cup set inside another styrofoam cup for insulation. Just be sure your fabric swatch can swish around within the size you use. I know it sounds like a long time to wait, but if you do it right after your evening meal you won't be tempted to rinse it at 11 hours!! I have no idea the phenomenon that is associated with that last hour, but it may be just what you need to see if there is any dyes coming out. If your water is clear, rinse your little test piece out and let it dry. Then use it for testing thread colors on top of before quilting. Just a thought.
Hopefully others will have more tips for the appliqué portion.
Luann

Thank you, Luann! This is a new process for me, I have not heard of this before. I think it is a given that the red will bleed at first, the question is how to put an end to it. Maybe I can use your idea to test whether I've been successful! I think my laundry machine will be busy before I can start this project. :unsure:

Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

What a nuisance that replies don't seem to be threaded on this forum! At least I figured out the quotes, finally.

But anyway, thank you everyone! Based on everyone's experience so far, and especially the success of the Retayne, here's my plan.
[ol]
[li]Wash with Synthrapol to knock out any loose dye.[/li]
[li]Wash with Retayne to stabilize the rest of the dye.[/li]
[li]Wash with a Color Catcher to see how it worked. Or, possibly use Luann's idea at this point to check if there is still any bleeding.[/li]
[/ol]

Any additional thoughts or ideas? I appreciate all the help so far. Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

I made a red, white & black bed quilt for my son, commercial fabrics and then some printable fabric that I printed comic strips onto (black & white only on those); I wash it in cold water with several color catchers each time, and while the color catchers do come out a lovely almost purple, they do the job of not having the red bleed onto the white fabrics in the quilt.

I think if you are planning it as a wall quilt, it should be fine, whatever you do.

[Nancy R.]

I made a red, white & black bed quilt for my son, commercial fabrics and then some printable fabric that I printed comic strips onto (black & white only on those); I wash it in cold water with several color catchers each time, and while the color catchers do come out a lovely almost purple, they do the job of not having the red bleed onto the white fabrics in the quilt.

I think if you are planning it as a wall quilt, it should be fine, whatever you do.

Thank you, Heather! It is nice to hear another success story! Your quilt sounds great. You make a good point that the Color Catcher may still pull colour out even after the first two washes. Maybe Luann's technique will be a better test at that point.

Happy quilting!

[Nancy R.]

The thing about the color catchers is, they are treated with a chemical to attract any dye particles in the water. Since your other fabrics within your quilt wouldn't be treated with this, they would possibly not even back stain at all, even when a color catcher comes out dark. A few years back one of the guild members shared a way of making your own color catchers. I never tried it but I think I'm going to ask her if she is still doing that, and if she is, what the process was. I'll share what I find out.
Luann