Synthrapol to the Rescue!

At last month's meeting, Sue R. suggested that we all should have Synthrapol in our laundry room supplies. Synthrapol is known as a "surfactant" or a concentrated "wetting agent". It is used by those who hand-dye fabric to remove any excess dye after the dyeing process. Quilters also use it to remove color (dye) that has bled into an adjacent fabric in a quilt.
Sue showed us this small red and white quilt that she made a number of years ago and now uses as a table runner. The red fabric had been washed before the quilt was made. Recently, after adding water to a vase of flowers that sat on the runner, she later noticed a small area that was damp and the red color had bled into the white. After washing with synthrapol the "bleed" was gone. Yay! Synthrapol to the rescue! It DOES work! It is very concentrated, so you use a very small amount. Follow the directions on the bottle carefully.
Another product we should all have on hand is Retayne. It is a color fixative and many quilters use it to pre-wash all their fabric. It is also very concentrated and you use a small amount. Read and follow the directions carefully. Most quilt shops carry these two products. Country Crafts and Curtains on York St. is trying to bring it in- I will let you know when it is in stock.



Tomorrow March 16th is International Quilting Day. I hope you are doing something special to celebrate such an important day!! Maybe you will start a new project! Or finish one! Maybe you are working on your "Out of the Box Challenge" piece (deadline of May meeting is getting closer!).. Or perhaps you'll treat yourself to some new fabric, or a new quilting book or magazine.. Whatever you do, celebrate the day!!




Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, hosts of The Quilt Show, want quilters, sewers and crafters to help them celebrate  International Quilting Day by seeing what's going on in today's quilting world. They are opening up free access to over 140 of their shows from their www.thequiltshow.com websites beginning Friday March 15 through Sunday March 17. There will be lots of terrific prizes from companies like Bernina, Gammill, Superior Threads, C&T Publishing, and more!  You'd better hurry over and check it out...