Purple Patchwork Panda complete!

After much anxiety and drama (oh, how I hate you, purple leafy fabric!!!), the Purple Patchwork Panda is complete. Many thanks need to go to AJ for sharing this wonderful pattern in her Panda Quilt Along.


Bound and washed, this panda is good to go! And look:


There is nary a trace of the purple that bled into the white! I went ahead and quilted and bound the quilt, then threw it in the wash using a little Synthrapol rubbed directly into the stain and four Color Catchers (which did turn very purple). When it came out, I was so happy to see that not only did the panda stay white, but the section that bled was practically white too! Unless you know to look, you'd never notice the bleeding, it is that faint now.


Apparently, pre-washing the back 8 times paid off, because it caused no trouble.


I think the quilting works pretty nicely too. I love all the texture in the panda body! I also stippled in the purple areas and then used different coordinating threads to quilt petals in the pinwheel blocks.


And here's the label. How pretty is that name? I just love the name Frances. And she is the sweetest little baby girl (8 weeks old now!). Hopefully, she'll enjoy her new quilt for a long time to come.

Panda-ness

Despite many good intentions, I only just managed to get the Purple Patchwork Panda basted and quilted this last weekend.

As you may recall, I was having trouble with one of the fabrics in the quilt. In one of the blocks, the purple fabric began to bleed into the white background. After a couple of failed attempts at trying to mitigate the bleeding, I decided to just get it quilted and see what happens in the wash. I also decided to stay with my plan to use the same purple fabric on the back. But, before basting, I went ahead and washed the backing to be safe.


After 8 (yes... that's right... 8!) washes, the Color Catcher was still picking up dye (though, as you can see in the picture above, by the last couple of trips through the washer, the Color Catcher was only very lightly colored). I used Synthrapol in the first 3 loads, then I switched to regular detergent. Apparently, this fabric is just cursed. And, having seen that, I came to the conclusion that the project either needed to be scrapped, or I just needed to go for it. So it is quilted, and now I'm working on the binding.



As soon as the binding is complete, my plan is to wash the quilt. We'll see what happens!

Panda peril!

One of the tops I completed last weekend was my purple patchwork panda quilt-along (from AJ Designs). I love how it came together—so cute!


Unfortunately, all is not well in panda-land.


My husband put water in the iron, and I didn't realize it (somehow, the steam billowing out just wasn't clue enough for me). So when I picked up the iron, water dribbled all over one corner of the quilt. I figured it would be fine to just press it dry. But, in doing so, the purple fabric started to bleed. Eeeep! It was just a little bit though. So I let it dry and took it to the sink and used some Synthrapol on it (a quilt appraiser/conservator who spoke at my guild a few months ago swore by its effectiveness at dealing with bleeding fabrics). Yay! It seemed to be working.


Unfortunately, I used hot water (hitting palm to forehead now) and it started to bleed in another spot. A lot. Gah! This is all extra-aggravating since I pre-wash all my fabrics for the express purpose of preventing such events. Sigh. The best picture I was able to take was of the back of the block... it shows the bleeding pretty well.


I'm thoroughly disheartened at this point. And I'm also in a quandary. This quilt was supposed to be a gift for a new baby. On the one hand, with some more Synthrapol (and COLD water) and a thorough wash (or even two) after quilting, I think it will be okay. But, on the other hand... what if it's not??? Do I invest the time if I'm just not sure?

The bleeding is pretty much only in one block. I think I have enough purple to make a replacement block. So would it be better to make the extra effort to remake and replace the offending block? Or should I just go for it as is, and see what happens?

What would you do?

Panda progress

Though I have not been terribly productive, I have managed to make some progress on my quilt-along panda.


I've finished up the center and have begun working on the pinwheel border. I think it's coming along pretty nicely. This is good since it's looking like the baby for whom it is intended is going to pop out at any second now! My goal is to get the top finished up by this weekend so that I can quilt it. Wish me luck!

Purple Patchwork Panda

The fact that I've been slacking off and playing video games instead of using my time productively and finishing projects has not stopped me from starting a new project. When I saw this fabulous panda at AJ Quilts and found out that there was going to be a quilt-along too, I just could NOT resist.


How cute is that??? There are more friends with babies on the way, and this fellow will be perfect for one of them.

AJ posted multiple color options for inspiration, but I just loved the one above. I think it is a fun gender-neutral option, which is perfect for the little mystery-baby due in June. As a bonus, I actually have those colors in my stash:


Week 4 of the quilt-along has been posted. Of course, I'm a little behind. I just finished week 1:



Hopefully, I'll be able to do some more catch-up over the weekend.