Ketchup?

I covered Judy's  kitchen chairs this week.  Aren't they pretty? 

This is a photo of what they looked like before. They had a pretty solid ivory fabric on them.   And then the grandbabies arrived and her lovely ivory chair covers were no more :) 

This is Sissy, Rob & Judy's sweet lab.  She is an old dollbaby.  Look at that face. :) She watched me  measure and take pictures for a few minutes and then went back to sleep. 

I found the fabric at Blaney's in Norfolk. It had all the colors we needed plus the flowers blend right in with the rest of Judy's home.  And a great price- it was $10.98 a yard. I used 4 yards for 8 chairs. 

I took the chair pads home a week ago and then brought them back to re-attach. This is so much easier than taking the whole chair.  I had them done on Friday but they were out of town, so I took them to her on the following Tuesday.  I try to do chair cover jobs in one week or less  so that they client isn't without seats for too long.

So. Everything is lovely and we are attaching the seats to the chairs,  the sun is shining- the weather is sweet.  I picked up a chair pad and felt something sticky on the edge. I turn it over and there is a blob of something thick, bright red and very sticky. On the edge of her supposed to be pristine new chair pad!!! @#$$%  Where did it come from? @#$$%^ How did  what looked like partially dried ketchup get there? @#$%^ 

The good thing is that I had saturated the chairs after I recovered them with fabric protector. If we know the grandbabies are going to be sitting there, lets be ready for them :)  I got the spray fabric protector from Hancock's. It works great. I fully saturated those chairs. 

Judy grabbed a washcloth and it came right off, but I was mortified- how and where did this get on the side of the seat???

Where did it come from?? Is it  ketchup? What is it?

@#$%!! 

 I do have a kid and a dog and a hubby. And me.  So I went over every place and time those chairs where in my house. The seats were here for 7 days.  I  did these covers  on the dining table, which was covered with oilcloth. The pads where stacked in the far  corner of the LR on a chair that we don't use.   I went back over our menu here in the house and we never used ketchup or any red sauce in the dining room or in the LR. We never eat in the LR ( and in the past two weeks not in the  DR  because I have been swamped with work and took over the DR table as work table #2. My other table is in the sewing room and needs to be clear every day or so for lessons. )   

I went and searched my car back seat.  We don't eat in my car either so I know there has never been ketchup in the car. Or red sauce. Or anything. But I still checked. The only thing we really eat in my car are  Sonic fruit slushies  and Eden likes the lemon so I know it wasn't that. And tic tacs. But mint tictacs don't leave large red blobs of gook . 

So where  did it come from?  I don't know. I have gone over every place those chair seats were and can find nothing. I have no idea.  Could it have come from Judy's house? I set the pads down on one of  her large LR chairs. I also checked that while I was there, but really quick, not a thorough look over that I did at my house. 

I don't know. I am stumped. 

The chairs are pretty though. 

And we now know that they do not stain easily- the fabric protector really works.