Lesson Learned

 Do you prewash? I will have to admit to the Quilt Police that I don't often. Just sometimes and I don't know why I don't.  Do I like the feel of new fabric?  Do I not want to take the time?  I can't say it's because I can't wait to cut into it and use it.  Some of the fabric in my stash is decades old.  Who knows?

This morning I woke up thinking of Charlie's quilt and that dense, deep navy blue and that niggling in my brain telling me to prewash it.  I did and was stunned at the dye that came out of that navy.

Elizabeth's Baltimore Album will have a lot of red in it. She specifically said she wants red, green and yellow to predominate.  I pulled many, many reds out of the stash and put them on the thinking bed.  So, this morning I paid attention to the brain niggle and put them in the sink and ran hot water and I was horrified.

I know the rule is to wash reds but, head hanging, I admit I don't.  And look what happened!   The sinks looked like Kool Aid. One of the batiks ran dark orange to yellow. And I mean RAN.  I started with the batiks and as I was watching in horror I thought of how much I had already used on quilts.  

Holy cow.  When I die I am going to have to leave strict instructions with the recipients of these quilts to use BOXES of Color Catcher.   The water looked like a rag wash out after a nose bleed.    

Some of them even stained the sink!  Needless to say reds will always be washed after this.  And here I sit looking at some of the quilts I've made with red in them.   And no, I don't usually wash a quilt after it's been made.  Some people put that last stitch in and immediately wash it. While I like a crinkled look of a quilt that has been washed and scrunches up on itself, I like that clean, smooth look better. 

Yesterday the weather was iffy so I spent the afternoon forgoing the nap and instead thought I'd better get THIS pile off the thinking bed so I can devote myself to the Baltimore Album. People, when I say I am math challenged I am not kidding.  I can't do it till I can SEE it.  Forever and always I have been a "show me, don't tell me" person. If I can SEE it, I can DO it but don't try explaining it.  I can read the map but don't try to give me verbal directions. That sort of thing. 

With the Daffs I don't want a straight on setting, I want the diagonal look.  Well, like I told Friend Barb yesterday, my mind pretty much works up and down, but diagonal thoughts can make the circuits in my brain spark. 

I started the Baltimore Album quilt and I thought if I started with the Hamilton logo it would be the easiest.  Well.  Not.  I bought a batik for the star because batiks don't ravel and I needed to make those points without doing paper piecing.  But Hamilton was regular fabric and looks like a giraffe so he came off as soon as I put the last stitch in.  I will get a batik in mottled black for him.  And yes, I will wash that black first!