I had just finished my mini quilt for the Bee a {Modern} Swapper swap.

I had solved my conundrum over what to do about quilting around the bird in the middle of the quilt.

I had finished the quilting around the rest of the quilt.

The only think I had left to do was to attach the binding and send the quilt off to its new home. I was pleased to be finished, so I brought the quilt downstairs to take a photo. Before I could return my pretty mini quilt to the sewing room to add the finishing touches, disaster struck in the form of a 2-year-old who had gotten her hands on a dry erase marker.

The horror!!

Here’s a tip: dry erase marker is more or less permanent on fabric. Do not ever allow a child to unleash her “creative additions” on your quilting project with dry erase marker. At least give her a washable marker or an ink pen. I’m sure those would come out easier than this, which, did not come out at all!
In case you were curious, here is the list of various cleaners and chemicals I used on the marker in an attempt to remove it. Oxiclean MaxForce laundry stain remover, Resolve carpet cleaner, extended soak in oxyclean, Mr. Clean magic eraser, extra concentrated oxyclean, nail polish remover, pure acetone, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, bleach pen, mineral spirits, and Greased Lightning cleaner. Hmmm … I think that’s all. I received several other suggestions that I did not try (Murphy’s oil soap, hairspray, rotten milk), but really, I think I covered the spectrum of chemical reaction that could have removed it.
When it became clear that I would not be able to remove the marker, I made a plan to cover it. I traced the edges of the various sections of the quilt and marked where the damage was. When I had finished that, I drew out an appliqué pattern to cover it.
Then it was just a matter of creating the actual fabric appliqué. To keep with the style I had already started in the center of my quilt and have a piece large enough to cover all the damage, I ended doing raw edge appliqué on two dozen little leaves, a large tree, a bird, and three flowers. Phew!
But we’ll call it a success.
There is one bit of marker left that I could have covered with a different arrangement of the leaves, but I’m leaving it uncovered as a remind of what I went through with this project.
I finished it off with some aqua Ta Dots for the binding.
You can see on the back where I added the appliqué after the quilt was already together, but since this is a wall hanging, you’ll never even notice.
