Tamra, the Retayne "locks the color on" by coating the fabric with a resin (no, you can't tell it's on there but it is", and it's SYNTHRAPOL that takes off the excess dye that hasn't chemically bonded with the molecules in the fiber.
Here's a little thing to help understand the whole "dye thing". The dye molecules (that's what the color IS, it's stuff made of molecules... remember high school physical science and chemistry) and the molecules of the dye have to be bonded or joined to the molecules of the fibers of the fabric. Now, dye molecules are actually MUCH more interested in bonding with the water molecules that they are floating around in, to begin with, so we must add something to the pot to make the fabric "more attractive" to the dye (LOL, think of makeup! but it's actually more like magnetic polarity). We add salt to help the dye move into the fabric, then soda ash to make them "get married forever"... only, if the water chemistry is different from one place to another, or the salt or soda ash in solution isn't "just right", not all the dye will be attracted to the fabric and some of it will just sort of "sit there".
The deal is, with Synthrapol, is that it works to get the dye that washes out of the fabric when it gets wet, to stay in the water solution, instead of being attracted back to the fabric, any fabric, it comes into contact with. Then it gets washed away. Most dyers and commercial dye houses, use Synthrapol to do what is called "soaping off" the unattached dye". The thing about Retayne, is that it is a bit different, in that it actually is a sort of coating to hold it all on there. It's not a chemical reaction with Retayne, it's more a specialized "glue" that holds the dye in place, that has a weak bond to the fiber. I don't know how else to describe it without getting VERY technical, and this may be more than you wanted to know anyway.
--Elaine, who often has purple fingers!
Barb, I make all the quilts for my B&B. 3 beds are king size and three are queen size, plus a set of bunks. I layer my quilt with basting spray, then go back and use a ruler to make sure all the seams are perfectly square. I then use LOTS of safety pins.
When I am quilting I drop the feed dogs and use the darning foot, even for the straight seams. I find that it works better than the walking foot because I don't get any push of the layers. I start with the straight seams, using invisible thread, and work from the middle out. I don't fold or roll the quilt, because it was a lot of bother and didn't seem to make the actual quilting easier for me.
After I finish all the straight seams I do the remaining quilting with whatever thread and design I want. I remove the safety pins as I go. You can do the remaining quilting in any order you wish, since the straight line quilting keeps the layers in place.
Make sure you put as much quilting in the border as you do in the body of the quilt, to avoid ruffling.
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