sahm4605

I would just run them threw the sink and air dry on a rack or something. you don't want the fabric strips to fray apart. and this way you will know which one needs to be soaked a few times. you can also add retain or synthrope to the sink if you want to make sure that it gets color fast.

BellaBoo

I have lots of Bali Pops and so far none I haven't noticed any bleeding. Besides I use them sewn together or with other batiks so if one bleeds it doesn't show anyway.

Carol Wilson

What is a colour catcher or a dye sheet, don't know if they are available in Australia?

klgreene

My sister just finished a quilt for her DDIL and she got it back from the longarm and washed it. Put in a color catcher, and she said it did run, just slightly. So she's giving her DDIL a box of colorcatchers with the quilt. I thought that was a pretty smart idea.

mosaicthinking

Carol, I can get them at Safeway here in Melbourne.

They're small sheets of something that's a lot like interfacing that are impregnated with some magic stuff that attracts loose dyes. You pop them in the wash. They start out white but sometimes come out a different colour after picking up dyes in the wash.

You can find them in the laundry section of Safeway with the fabric softeners and that kind of thing. I have two boxes at home, one is bright red and is Punch brand, the other is bright blue and is So Gentle brand. Made in Ireland, would you believe (I had to pull out the boxes to give you all this info.)

Carol Wilson

A thousand thankyous for this information I will attack Safeway at the earliest opportunity and get some for our craft group.

quiltingaz

I have used Bali Pop Mint Chip, i think that is name. Anyway, used it with an off white batik and washed with color catcher. Did not bleed.

mosaicthinking

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. It's not a great photo but wanted to show you where I ended up. This morning I threw the lighter tones in a mesh bag and put them in the wash with a colour catcher. I have a front loader and used the permanent press setting and there wasn't much fraying at all.

Will repeat the procedure with the dark tones as soon as I get enough laundry together for another (dark) load. We've been in drought here for many years so I try to only do laundry when the machine is full.

mosaicthinking

And for anyone who might be interested, here is the completed Garden Trellis top, without borders. I'm planning to add a narrow border in a brick red and then a wide one in black.

quiltsRfun

Very pretty. I've had my eye on this Bali jelly roll.