Inked on paper stuck under quilted stitchery

[Karen W.]

I drew a design onto paper, then scanned it, printed it on my inkjet, and pinned it in place on top of my quilt. I stitched along the lines, and then tore off the paper, but lots of the paper was caught under the stitches. So I then got the bright idea to spritz it to soften the paper, but when I did, I noticed the ink was running. So I tossed the quilt into the washer with Synthropol and when it came out, alot of the paper had washed away, but now there was a bunch of blue bits of paper under the quilted stitches. I've tried picking the paper manually from the threads, using an old toothbrush, and even tried taking the quilting out, but lucky there isn't a stain on the fabric, just lots of blue paper under stitches. Is there something I can do, like wash it once more, soak it in water to dissolve the last bit of paper? This area is only one block, and it is about 8 or 10 inches square. Needless to say, I will not do that again!

[Karen W.]

I don't know for sure, but I think a soaking plus another washing should get the last of it out. How fortunate the ink didn't stain your quilt!

[Karen W.]

I did something very similar. ops: I ended up sitting down with the tweezers and picking each little piece of paper out! Tedious but worth it!

Jean in sunny Windsor ON

[Karen W.]

Tweezers is somtimes the only way to go with those pesky little paper left behinds. I've also used blue masking tape or a sticky lint roller to pick up all the little paper demons.
I use 'Golden Threads' paper quite often in my quilting.
It tears out the most cleanly....although all paper will leave stubble behind.
I usually trace the quilting design onto the paper with either a graphite pencil or a blue wash away marker. This does two things, you don't have the inkjet bleed out (which always happens) in case you miss some paper crud, and second is, you practice the quilting design with your hands first and that improves your quilting. Sometimes I do run through the inkjet printer, but then I make sure all paper is removed before final wash. If you check my profile, the quilt 'Plain Cloth' was quilted with this technique....and there was alot of paper stubble to remove.
Hope this helps...I have soooo been there.
Mary S

[Lynn K.]

Nice looking chicken, Mary? Do you raise them?

[Karen W.]

Thanks for all the tips, and I've just about got the idea, take it back to the water, and see what a good soak, will do, because most of the paper is now picked out just a few places and it makes my cream thread look light blue in those places. I do know enough not to do this again. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Have a Great Labor Day weekend.

[Karen W.]

Not sure the 'I'm stuck' thread should become 'the chicken' thread, but yes I raised them from chicks. There are Australorps...and older girls now (5 yrs old), but still laying. We were both a bit younger in this picture :lol:
Mary S

[Karen W.]

Now that I've just about taken the paper out, I do notice some pinkish colors in the fabric which must have been some of the ink. Oh well, just as well, I will just piece a new cream colored fabric on top and quilt away once it is all dry enough. Since it is so large and has so many large rose sprays on it in the alternate blocks, the eye is really looking at them, not the cream background fabric anyway. I just watched Mary Mashuta on TQS, Episode 213 – TQS Road Trip - Part Two, stitch around a plastic template of shelf paper, and might try that, but I don't trust the markers enough to try them on this. My luck it would make a mess. 4 hr quilt, ha ha ha!javascript:emoticon(':lol:')

[Karen W.]

Take a look at Ricky's DVD Grand Finale ... he does much of his quilting from the reverse / underside of the quilt top. He uses invisible wash-away thread that dissolves in water.

He put thin polyester type stabilizer paper under neath the top. He considers the sewing of the templates underneath is preliminary practice he uses to perfect his skills before he quilt the top for real. When the quilt is finished he then "soaks" the quilt getting rid of the washable thread. The thin stablizer is in the quilt as a batting.

The DVD is sold on his web page and I thought it was worth the money to learn new technique of domestic machine quilting.

I do not know if I will ever do it as is is very involved, but I really enjoyed watching the DVD. I frequently have it on while I am sewing.