quilt building

[hollyc]

This is a question more on construction than quilting. With regular cotton fabrics, scrap quilts are my very favorite. I am able to "see" the quilt before construction, using different fabrics, designs.

The problem for me comes with batiks. I cannot seem to make an all batik quilt feel right to me. I never seem to see a batik quilt with anything but batiks. I have used a batik as a background with other lines of fabric that are not batiks.

How many quilts do you see with a mix of batiks and cottons? Is there a subconscious rule somewhere not to mix batiks and cottons?

[witha'K'quilting]

I seldom mix batiks with regular cotton, unless the cotton is Kona solids. My preference I guess. I mix handpaints with batiks too. I guess the feel and look of batiks are such their own, that I feel regular cottons detract. JMHO.

[doodlebug]

i've quilted three lately from customers that have been a mix of the two, actually more regular cotton with one or two fabrics being a batik. i have a friend who is also a batik nut, and she says she has the same problem. she can't put a regular cotton backing on an all batik quilt (i can't either)

i don't think there is a rule that you can't mix the two (is there any 'rules' in quilting? beside measuring for borders ). i think it is just a matter of preference. IMHO

do what YOU think looks right, after all it's your quilt.

but i'll tell you what i told cust when i worked at the LQS: if you don't like it when it's in a pile of bolts for auditioning, you WON"T like it in the quilt.

[seakitten]

Some cotton print fabrics do lend themselves well to mixing with batiks. Mostly, I think, they are the Asian-inspired prints, which have a more compatible feel to them. I do not think they'd go too well with calico-type prints. In this example, the bamboo and the solid black-looking fabrics are batiks. I do not care for batik on the back, don't like the way it feels. However, my LQS specializes is batiks, so I get a lot of them to quilt.

[seakitten]

here it is I hope

[Daisy2018]

Batiks read really informal, many prints do not....Batiks are many times very stiff fabric, hard to mix with soft cottons.... Batiks lots of times are done with really saturated color, hence they often look great with saturated cotton solids as Kristina posts... Batiks are just not in many peoples "vocabulary" to feel and look natural in the quilt, we are historically tuned by our experiences with quilts in the past to need to see some of the familiar in order to feel comfortable with our choices.

I've had some success in mixing plaids with batiks and surprisingly, small civil war prints that are heavily saturated, the deep plums come to mind. I hate to hand quilt batiks, only have done it once, the material just does not respond to the needle...

Batiks never seem soft enough for backs, I like a back to be cozy!!!

[quiltmonkey]

Well I break rules all the time. Here is a quilt I pieced and quilted last year that has a batik mixed in with regular cotton weave. The batik fabric is the delectible mountains and the diamond shape in the inner border.

[quiltmonkey]

close up of those two shapes showing the batik I used.

PS: I love that batik. It tied all of my fabrics (used from my stash) together in the quilt top. In fact, I went back to the shop and bought the rest of the bolt so now I have bunches of it!

[jmcclannan]

Shana, I love the quilt! I'm glad to hear someone else goes back and buys a ton of fabric when they find something they like.

[dtreusch]

I have a quilt on my machine right now that was pieced by Judy Martin. It has a mix of cottons and batiks. I was worried about how it would quilt, but it is doing just fine. If the big girls are doing it, I don't think I would hesitate to mix them in one of my own quilts!!

[njquiltergirl]

Hi.

I like mixing batik and regular quitler's cottons in a quilt. I'll try to post a close up of one I did with kaffe Fasset prints and batiks.

Lisa

APQS Liberty

NW NJ

[hollyc]

SHana, that was the perfect batik.

Lisa, liked that mix too

[sewlinzi]

I'll mix anything together! batik and Kaffe Fasset plus fossil fern and maybe silk!

[klwheeler]

My first quilt was a mixture of dark green and black bamboo batik with pink and purple regular cotton fabrics. My daughter, then about 10 yrs old, helped pick the fabrics and I made the top the best I could for her with my own design and a familiar star block. It has sashing and corner posts, an a checkerboard border too! I used a lovely pink and purple batik for the back. A very nice quilter, Leonard, worked magic on the quilting and my daughter loved the quilt for years. She's finally outgrown it and it is put away. Anyway, use whatever you like, as it is your quilt and you are ultimately the one to enjoy it. If you don't like the colors and fabrics, you'll have a hard time liking the quilt when finished. Karen

[Bonnie]

I also believe there are no rules in quilt construction, and also mix my Hoffman batiks with regular cottons. But more than that I have used Batiks as backings,and with several washings, my most favorite quilt. Its the one I grab the most to snuggle under.

So I guess the rule...if there is one: is do what makes you happy.

[quiltaholi_518]

Batik Backings!!!

Yuck! I hate em!! Especially if the client (sometimes me) wants heavy fancy threads and I feel I have to use a 4.5 needle. The batik on the back doesn't heal, even after washing and I feel like I have gaping holes where the needle went through.

Regarding mixing fabrics, here is one that is mostly batiks, but because of color needs, a few regulars got mixed in. I would rather mix them than settle color-wise.

[JollyJane]

It seems that they have said it all. It has to be what feels right for you. My first ever bed quilt had mainly ordinary cottons, and one batik - it looks great. But I did undo two of the blocks that had a cotton in that I wasn't happy with. It was the only fabric available that was the colour that I needed so thought it would be fine. It wasn't. So I remade them with something different that I did like!! I only mention that because it proves the point that if you aren't happy with it on the bolt, you won't be happy with it in the quilt!! If you aren't sure then don't do it!!

[quiltjunkie]

I agree with Caron about Batik backings.. but I get mixed quilts all the time to quilt. They can pose a problem if you have a very loose weave mixed with a batik. That happened in a quilt I was doing and getting the tension to work for both was a B---h!!! :mad: Can't tell you how many times I had to rip out when I crossed over from one fabric to the other and finally just had to settle for " that will do". Thank goodness is was a small quilt. As far as how they look, well if the fabric works with the others, then great..but I can't imagine a batik with civil war fabric, guess you would have to see it. Also, I try to use Lava or Rainbows on batik quilts, that way I can use a 3.5 needle and don't have the "gapping holes".