I told you all yesterday that the red and green applique had some red bleeding on it. I couldn’t zoom in on the bleed very well so you could see it. I could see it – it wasn’t a lot but I thought what the heck lets see if I could get it out. Before I do another red and green block I will pre-treat all of the fabric first, just plain washing it doesn’t always work with red and green I have found!!
Ok so here is what I did – first I basted Shout Color Catchers all over the colored pieces of the block.
the catchers basted on the block
Then I put it in the wash in a lingerie bag with some laundry soap – cold water wash. This is what it looked like when it got done.
I don't know if you can see on this photo that there is red dye caught in the catcher - but when I looked on the other side I could still see dye in the fabric.
Remember this was an experiment – if I had to re-do this block I would. I had a fourth of a bottle (4 oz) of Retayne (I have not used the company at this link but I am showing what the product looks like for those of you who have not used it) left so I put the machine on a small load once again and I dumped the rest of the bottle in it!
When the wash load stopped I took it out and took the stitches out holding the color catchers to the block. Can you see the red dye in places? I'm happy to report that all of the bleeding came out. What did happen though is that the background block is actually just a tad lighter now - weird! There had been a brownish type of marking by the top rose bud on the left side at the top. If you look at yesterday's picture you will see it. It is not there now. But all the bleeding is out.
the finished block - it shrunk just a tad. It is supposed to be a 16 1/2 inch block and it is a 16 1/4 inch block instead. I will deal with that later by having a skinny seam allowance when it is sewed together.
the rose bud where there had been a brownish type of marking that was in the fabric is on the top left side.
before using the color catchers and the Retayne - see the brownish mark? I don't know if you can see the bleeding -it is just a light pink
It is possible that the red and green colors have lost just a little bit of color but as all of the blocks will be in various red and green fabrics it doesn’t matter for the overall quilt. I am ordering more of the Retayne (the company I use is Connecting Threads as their books are 40% off right now and there is one I want (of course I will find a few other things I need as well) – if your order comes to $50 it is free shipping) and I will follow the directions on the bottle and pre-treat all of the red and green fabrics I will be using! I learned my lesson. 
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