In preparation for shooting the video for the 2010 Online West of Baltimore Block of the Month, I thought it might be a good idea to prewash my Cherrywood Hand-dyes.
The West of Baltimore was made completely with Cherrywood fabrics on Kona Black solid.
Cherrywood dyed fabric is the most sumptuous fabric I know of — the finish looks like suede and the “hand” of the fabric is great to work with, whether you’re doing pieced work or applique.
I recently made a large quilt with Cherrywoods that I didn’t even think to prewash – now I’m concerned. The instructions that come with the fabric clearly state that they recommend prewashing… so why didn’t I listen? (Probably had some other not-so-important stuff rattling around in my head)
Ok, so I divided the fabrics by color and by lightness/darkness, found the bottle of Synthrapol and a measuring teaspoon and headed for the washer. Luckily, I had a box of Color Catchers – little washer sheets that trap the excess dye in the water so it doesn’t migrate to other fabrics. These were made for laundry loads, but leave it to us creative types to find other uses for these nifty sheets!
Here is a photo of fabrics that just came out of the dryer and have the Color Catcher sheets on top of the piles:
The light green sheet almost looks white with the other colors, but can you find the rust one? It’s so dark that it blends in with the fabrics — that were primarily orange and peach, so the darker Rust is the one that released the dye the most.
That’s what Synthrapol does — it releases excess dye, while Retayne keeps the fabric from releasing more dye. Synthrapol didn’t lighten any of the colors of my beautiful Cherrywoods, by the way.
Here is a photo of the Color Catchers after the prewash loads were done:
Aren’t the colors vivid?!
I’m going to keep these and cut them up to use for little art quilts and doing collage books. They are a fiber (of some kind) and they are STRONG. I think they’ll cut into shapes beautifully. I can iron them, stitch on them — probably stamp on them, and they’ll be good.
Now I wish I had kept all of the Color Catchers that I have used in the past – I’d have a pretty good stash of them now. If I had thought about keeping them when I finished my first batch, I would have thrown in 2 sheets!
Here’s the deal though, our printed and solid fabrics don’t bleed like they used to when I first started quilting. Usually, my Color Catcher sheet comes out of the washer as white as it went in! But I have this one RED blouse that rubs red onto my underclothing no matter how many times it’s washed.
I’m going to pay attention in the future with the Color Catchers… who knows, I think I’ve created a new stash. …don’t tell my husband!…
©2009 Annie Smith All Rights Reserved
your Balitmore is just absolutely gorgeous!! love the workmanship, fabric choices..would love to see close ups of the decided quilting. thanks for the advise on the fabrics you used.
After the first paragraph I thought you were going to say your colors all bled and your quilt was ruined. Thank goodness that didn’t happen!
Are you going to teach a class at your retreats in March and April?
Never mind my previous question – I reread your trip description. But now I’d like to know how soon before the trip you will send out a supply list for the workshop. Choosing fabrics takes me hours!
I went to MaterialPleasure.com Friday night and a couple ladies were talking about Synthrapol so I mentioned that you had blogged about it. I also saw your Pickle Road Garden quilt in the classroom – I like it!
Help needed–our Safeway Market has stopped carrying ColorCathers and tried every other outlet in our small town. We don’t know where to look next? I might have to ask you to send me a couple of boxes, I’ve been using these for years. We even take a baggy full on vacations.
Hi Annie,
!. Is the video of the ‘West of Baltimore’ going to be online, or is it going to be a DVD for sale? Is this going to be a class?
I am still working on my ‘West of Baltimore’ from Keepsake Quilting…..I wait until I have 4 months to do, then do all those all at once. I now have the last 4 ready to do, except for the #13 corners.
2. I didn’t understand your conclusion to the Cherrywood demo that you did? Did the Cherrywood release a lot of color? Do you think it is worth washing all those before using them in a quilt? I usually wash all my fabric , but have never done the Cherrywood.
At the Houston show I found Ricky Tims new dyed blue fabric wonderfully intense, and just what Cherrywood use to sell years ago before it was sold to the new (years ago) owners.
I have one of the old Cherrywood patterns that used the old intense blues…………but never could find the right blue Cherrywood, the owner finally wrote to me that they can’t, (or don’t know how) to make that old intense blue. Then I found Ricky’s great new, but YIKES: EXPENSIVE, blue fabrics, but that color is worth every cent!
Oops! I see the lable above the ‘color catcher’ photo…..those are the color catchers! I thought you were just showing the Cherrywood fabric after it had been washed…….my mistake!
Guess I had better get washing!!
Terri– yes, I’m going to teach Designing Your Own Applique, at the retreat, for those who are interested. Otherwise, everyone can work on whatever they wish, as usual.
And the supply list will be sent in January.
Susan- ask Safeway to bring them back. They will do that. Woolite also makes Dye Magnets — same thing, just a different brand. I have a problem finding them sometimes too.
Mary- West of Baltimore is going to be an online class, video. Congratulations on your West of Baltimore, it’s a lot of work, but so worth it!
Yes, the Cherrywoods release color because they are hand-dyed. It’s excess dye that’s released. They do a really good job of rinsing – so pre-swashing is a precaution. Yes, with the Cherrywoods, it is definitely a GOOD IDEA to prewash. In fact, the literature that comes with the fabric when you purchase online recommends prewashing to remove any excess dye.
I agree that hand-dyes are worth every penny. On Cherrywood, the employees of the previous owner, Dawn (died of breast cancer) took over the business when she passed away. Maybe that recipe was one that Dawn knew in her head and never wrote down. We are so lucky to have Cherrywoods still!
Thank you all for commenting!!
Annie
Definitely prewash Cherrywood Fabrics. I didn’t and washed one even with color catchers and the navy blue bled into my dark tan color. I call it my grungy quilt now. However, it has not stopped me from using their fabrics – I just love them.