A week laid up has given me ample opportunity to quilt - opportunity I did not expect this side of Christmas.
I've been pleased with the amount that I've managed to get done, but when I went to bed last night it was with a sense of trepidation - and not just because DH was away and I was on my own and still hobbling around on crutches (by the way, those frozen meals from the supermarket are not particularly appetizing - next time I'll just order pizza).
No, the reason I had an uneasy sleep was because I'd finished quilting a largish section, had stood back (figuratively speaking) and admired it, and had then proceeded - as I always do - to remove the quilting marks with water. I've done this a hundred times before with no issues on this quilt, but this time, the blue marks disappeared and in their place were faint pink lines.
Not quite what you want to see on a white background.
I sponged again, but to no avail. I went to bed figuring the best I could do was to let it dry and then get up this morning and search how to remove marks.
(The marks don't show up as well on camera as they do in real life. Let me help you see the problem.)
Now, I'm not sure if the marks are from the blue quilting pen I used or from my stencil. I had recently switched brands of marker pen but I had used it enough times and removed enough marks to suspect that it wasn't the pen's fault. I had, however, (and this is where I start to call myself names) used a mesh stencil to transfer the design to the quilt.
Initially I had drawn on the mesh with pencil and then would go over it with the blue marker to mark the quilt. However, the pencil line had grown faint, and so I went over it with a purple ink pen (not on the quilt, of course, I'm not that crazy - yet). After the purple ink was dry and I made sure I couldn't rub any off (see, I did take precautions), I then placed the mesh on my quilt and traced over it with the blue marker pen. The marks looked the same - that is, small blue dots - and there was nothing to suggest that there could be pink marks hiding underneath.
Until I had quilted and removed the blue lines with cold water and then the pink lines appeared. As I said earlier, they refused to sponge out, and I went to bed wondering what the next step would look like.
Now, I do have enough fabric left over that I could remove the quilting, and the applique, and replace the pieces. But that would be fiddly and time-consuming and I would likely have little hair left at the end of it. I've replaced pieces in finished or almost-finished quilts before and it is not for the faint-hearted.
Today, I felt faint-hearted. And despite the fact that my hair is driving me crazy at the moment, I didn't feel like pulling it all out in frustration either.
And so I turned to my search engine.
Dawn dishwashing liquid came up multiple times. This is not available in New Zealand but I wish it were. From what I gather, it can remove anything from grease to permanent maker to hair dye. The number of times I have seen this touted as a remedy for anything and everything amazes me.
Anyway, that was out.
The next was hand sanitizer. Or, more correctly, straight alcohol, but as hand sanitizer is more readily available and most people have it on hand (especially given this is the year of COVID-19), I decided to give it a go. I tested it first on a scrap piece of fabric on which I had tried to simulate the problem (why is it that on the scrap the pink lines were so much fainter and almost removed by water alone?).
Not exactly thrilled with the idea of leaving hand sanitizer on my quilt, I did rinse it as best as I could. Currently the quilt is drying and I'm looking for other ways to fill my time while it dries, but the initial results look promising. I can't say that the pink has fully gone, but it certainly looks a lot lighter.
I have a few other options up my sleeve if this doesn't work. Baking soda is one. (I've discovered that a tiny amount of baking soda in water gets rid of any pesky blue marks that didn't disappear the first time). Another is hair spray (again, alcohol). After that, I have a choice of stronger stain removers or replacing the fabric.
I'm hoping it won't come to that. Meanwhile, while I wait for the quilt to dry, I'll work on these:
It seems I can never get away from making something useful (dare I say, beautiful?) from scraps!
P.S. The hand sanitizer appears to have worked!
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