HELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPP!!!!

[Renae]

I have an odd question that I need help with. My customer doesn\'t sew but she brought me a quilt top she wants quilted. She had another lady piece it and believe me it is going to be a challenge!!! The borders are wavy and that is what I can see without putting it on the leaders. Anyhooooo........The quilt has HUGE cross-stitched blocks and the lady that did it is going blind so some of the marks are still visble. Are they going to wash out??? They want me to put the binding on and wash the quilt also??? What do I do???? and just how shall I do it??? and what do I charge to do this??? OHHHHH and get this! It should be custom quilted......they didn\'t want to pay that much, so they said they wanted a heart design to go all over the quilt from edge to edge. So, I guess you do what the customer wants. Sooooooo .....can anyone help me with thes questions I have???? Mary Beth??? Linda??? Dawn??? Shana???? Anyone??????

Renae

[Stagecl]

Renae,

You can free-hand hearts and loops...if you make the hearts wind-blown and of all different sizes they will look great. The other way is to make a couple of heart stencils in different sizes and place them around on the top...then stitch lines with loops or just lines to the bottom or top of the stenciled hearts. That way you can work around the cross-stitched blocks and still do an E2E.

Wavy borders...you can use Bonnies steam method and that will help. If the borders are REAL bad and steaming doesn\'t work...take a tuck or ease it in. Piano keys are good for wavy borders too.

Doing the binding is okay...I would NOT wash the quilt for them...let them do that...to much could go wrong if the marks are not out already...consider shrinkage and bleeding fabric. I charge $2.50 a linear foot for making, stitching the binding on and hand whipping it down.

Good Luck...remember do what you are comfortable doing...don\'t let them talk you in to more than you want to do.

Cheryl

[RitaR]

Oh Lordy, Renae, pray.. seriously and in a humorous way.. the Lord does understand.

then, were It me, I think I\'d dampen the whole thing, lay it out to dry and try to ease the waves back to lay flat using the Bonnies Method.. press don\'t move.. ease in, press, don\'t move.. make sure it drys overnight at least.. then see if it will lay flatter and you can work on it better..

As for the pricing, I think I\'d do the largest hearts you can pleasingly to the eye, put on, and a wavy dip or section between them, so you don\'t spend a lot of custom time on a standard job..

Third.. I\'d soak the finished quilt.. spin dry, preferrably in a tumble washer dryer, or very gentle in your machines at home.. then I think i\'d tumble dry on very low heat until still damp but no longer wet,, and lay it out for a couple days to finish drying.

You may want/need to pin ends, sides to get the quilt to understand it\'s now one piece and where you put it, it is to stay.

Please, anyone else.. help.. this is my best bet, am sure others know more/better...

RitaR

[Mary Beth]

I think these ladies have given you good advice. The only thing I can add is that if the cross stitch was stamped on the fabric in the \'70\'s or before, chances are it is staying stamped!! I agree, I would let them wash the quilt. Suggest to your customer to take it to a laundry mat where she can put it in a front loading machine, unless she has one of course.

Charging....I\'m always a bad one to ask. I would just have to know that a woman who was going blind try to make it and I would give them a break. That\'s why I quilt working at the credit card collection facility...DH was afraid I would try to make payments for those who gave me a sob story:D

[Renae]

Thanks, Rita and Cheryl for your input. I don\'t know what i will do yet about the washing. I will bind it that isn\'t a problem. The borders are going to be a BIG problem but I will get through that some way.......the quilt is also Dk. Purple (solid color)/Lime Green (solid color) and the cross stitch is on white and the backing is Bright Lime Green also a solid color. She wants me to do the washing to get the marks out because her husband would have a FIT if he saw her doing it because she ruins a lot of things .........so she and her daughter told me.

Renae

[Renae]

Good idea Mary Beth.......I think I will tell her to take it to the laundry mat and do it herself. She offered to give me $50.00 or more if I wanted...if I would just do it for her. That is the thing MB......the design is stamped and they don\'t know how old it is. The lady that did it came here on the Orphan Train from New York 80 some years ago and this is all going into a book my customer is writing about the Orphan Train Children. They are having a quilt show the end of April and are going to display this quilt because she did the cross stitch on it.

Renae

[The Crafty Unicorn]

If you decide to wash the quilt for them, first, get a SIGNED RELEASE form. I am way too trusting and haven\'t been burned yet, but we all need to cover our backsides.

When you wash it, don\'t dry it or get it warm until you see if the blue marks come out. If they don\'t there is a really disgusting recipe with buttermilk and lemon juice that has been recommended for "vintage" blue markings. If you do a search on this forum, you can find both the release form and the gross blue marker recipe.

You gotta admit, if you can get credit, being mentioned in the book would be cool.

Best of luck

Leslie

[iquiltit]

personally, if the borders are that much too wavy I would take them off and redo them because it would save you grief in the mean time. But........I would let her wash it herself because I would be afraid the colors would run and then what?????????just another opinion and maybe not charge extra because it would save u time in the longrun. Carol

[ramona-quilter]

Renae,

I agree with all the advice you have received.

About the washing, nope. I would let her take care of that. Too much can go wrong.

I did one of those stitch-by-number thingys with the pattern stamped in a turquoise blue. It was during the summer and just the humidity in the air started to melt the blue stamping. I was still OK with that until it started to melt into her stitching. When I paniced about the blue melting and posted here, I was told the same thing that Mary Beth told you. If it\'s old, that stamping may be set for life.

I do like Cheryl\'s heart and loop thang - you can do that, it would be sweet with random hearts. :cool:

I wonder if any of the newer stuff like sythrapol would remove those old stamping marks.... Anybody know?

[chickenscratch]

I would not wash it, and probably would not even soak it if it is solid purple. TOO MUCH CHANCE OF COLOR RUN. Try Bonnie\'s starch method for the borders. Pin baste them every few inches once you get it loaded. You might even consider separate piano key borders if they are really bad, but a good edge to edge can ease in a lot of fullness.

If you are stuck for the heart pattern, draw bunches of hearts on freezer paper, all different shapes and sizes. Iron these onto the top, but DON"T IRON where the stamping is. It will heat set it, then you\'ll never get it out. Quilt around those little templates, loop and swirl in between as you travel from one to another. VIOLA, very easy pattern that will look great.

[AnnHenry]

As mentioned above, if the stamping was done a long time ago, and it very likely could have been, it will NEVER come out. I speak from experience.

I hot stamped some quilt blocks in approximately 1990 and the embroidery was completed by approximately 2003, at which time I attempted to remove the stamp pattern. I made several attempts using several methods and finally resorted to a mild bleach solution which resulted in my beautiful red roses turning orange. Everything done in red on the blocks had to be re-embroidered. Not even the bleach touched the stamp pattern. By the time the quilt was put together, the quilt blocks had been washed so many times that there was a definite difference between them and the alternate blocks.

Bottom line: The stamping pattern will probably never come out.

Regarding the washing situation: The easy way out is to refuse to wash it. However, as a quilting professional, you are probably better qualified to wash the quilt than the customer, even with instruction. However, if you decide to wash it, makes sure the customer knows what to expect.

I\'m stunned at RitaR\'s suggestion to put the wet quilt into the dryer. I thought it was written in stone that good quilts never go in the dryer.

I disagree with Mary Beth\'s suggestion to take it to the public laundromat to wash it because it is impossible to control the washing cycle there. To properly machine wash a good quilt, one should soak only, spin, rinse, and spin, all without agitation. The washing machine has to be personally "attended" to in order to do this properly. Then dry completely flat only.

Upon re-reading Renae\'s post of 14:21 hours, if the only reason they want it washed is to get the stamp marks out, FORGET IT!

My 2 cents worth.

[Renae]

Thanks Linda, Carol and Leslie. I believe I will let her do the washing....I am just NOT comfortable with that at all!!! She offered to pay me but I can\'t do it!!! To much can go wrong and I told her right away......and I quote,"I don\'t want to be responsible if something would go wrong". Then I told her to just leave it alone.......the lady that did it can hardly see any more so that will say something about the quilt also. It was done completely by her so let it be. I do like the idea of the hearts and I will try to post my first picture of this quilt when I finish it. I may need your guidence to post it Linda.....hope you will help me;)

Thank you everyone,

Renae

[SYork]

I searched for the blue mark recipe but didn\'t find anything. I have a quilt that my DILs grandmother crossstitched the blocks, my son\'s grandmother set it together, and she wants me to quilt it. The blocks have the blue marks around the crossstitching. My DIL has had the blocks a long time and I am wondering if the blue will come out after it is washed. If anyone has the receipe with buttermilk and lemon juice, please post it again.

Thanks,

Sharon

[RitaR]

Whoaaa!! Nellie...

WHERE and WHEN did I ever say to AGGITATE a quilt, Nor DRY it in the DRYER?

I realize this was a topic on one person washing anothers quilt, BUT...

Note my quote from above, which follows this paragraph, contained the words.. Soak, Spin Preferrably in a TUMBLE WASHER Dryer and UNTIL Still Damp. meaning not soggy, but not dry. I guess my stone is broken.

QUOTE

I\'d soak the finished quilt.. spin dry, preferrably in a tumble washer dryer, or very gentle in your machines at home.. then I think i\'d tumble dry on very low heat until still damp. END QUOTE

Sorry but this crabby old sick body is asking for a reread.. no apology expected, nor do I think it is needed. Just a fair correct read of my post. I see I have a choice, clean them so I can use them and still breathe, or end up with worse health.. I\'ll take health over all.

Thank ALL of you for helping with the topic. Lots of good info there, from ALL of you!

RitaR

[The Crafty Unicorn]

Sharon,

the link to the post is

http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=6782&page=1#pid54090

Don\'t know if the link will work.

Try searching this forum for "marked lines not coming out of top" there are several suggestions. Just be warned, the buttermilk recipe may cause you to loose your lunch.

[ffq-lar]

One gallon water

One quart buttermilk

One tablespoon lemon juice

Soak for up to 24 hours

This is a solution that will help remove yellowing from vintage textiles and will remove some rust spots.

I don\'t know of anything that will remove the blue marks from older textiles.

If you decide to steam and starch the borders flat, be advised that any heat on the blue marks will set them forever!!

This project is gratifying even if the end result is mixed. You will have done your best and tried your hardest for some lovely people!

[chickenscratch]

Tempers girls, tempers!

I think these have all been very helpful solutions. Mary Beth, I remember reading that you did say take it to a front loading washer. I don\'t know that much about them, but they do kind of stir the fabric around before they spin it, right. Maybe that was what Ann Henry was referring to.

As far as worrying about the blue marks, they may never come out, and besides, the purple might run, so I still vote for not washing it-EVER.

Rita,

Maybe the wording of your post made it confusing to some. I don\'t think anybody was trying to be critical, it just needed clarification.

Ann Henry, I put all my quilts in the washer and dryer all the time. THe one my son is covered up with right now (he\'s home sick) was made 28 years ago and has been washed and dried probably 50 times. The dresden plates that I hand appliqued all that time ago are in tatters, but the quilt part itself looks like new. I had never heard of that saying before.

Linida, that is the recipe the AQS museum uses on the old quilts they get that need cleaning. And the man there told me you just mix it in a big tub and soak the quilt in it. I don\'t know if you are supposed to rinse it out or not????

[quiltaholi_518]

About the borders, though. When I KNOW I am going to have trouble going in, I use inexpensive poly batting, about 6 oz. The extra loft will help cope with the "waves" (also making it about 8 inches smaller that unquilted, lol) GL and let us know how it works out. Also to bind and finish I carge .20 per linear inch. That\'s enough to scare some away, and enough that if I end up doing it, I feel like it\'s worth my time........

[TerriVB]

Renae--I too wash and dry my quilts--that are to be loved--all the time--so I would suggest checking how the quilt is going to be used.

Also regarding the fabric running--I learned my lesson on a red, white, black quilt--I don\'t prewash my fabrics--anyway the red turned the white pink--on a guy quilt--so after many tears and a whole box of Shout Color Catchers and some OxyClean they were relatively white again. All that to say--that I NEVER wash a quilt anymore without putting at least 2 color catchers in with it--and I have never had anymore problems. And you would be amazed at what color the catcher turns out at the end of the wash.

Terri

[RitaR]

I wasn\'t and am not angry. Just don\'t make an error then blame someone else for it. Simple solution I\'d think. Take responsibility for self. I do.

I know I come across harsh and all knowing and am really Very Far From That, I pray!

RitaR.

[Hollyrw]

Can you try spritzing the blue marks with water in a inconspicuous area to see if they will come out? I would think if a little bit of water doesn\'t at least fade them, then washing the quilt would not get them out either. At least that way the customer would know if it\'s even possible.

[SYork]

Thanks Linda and Leslie for the buttermilk receipe.