I personally love batiks and currently have a stash waiting to make a Boston Commons quilt all in batiks. I'd seen one done on the cover of a quilt magazine several years ago made by Helen Weinman from Heartbeat Quilts, so now I just need to finish some UFO's and quilts for family so I can make MY OWN QUILT. LOL. Personally, I love the feel of them, but I would definitely prewash them before using, just to be safe, although to tell you the truth, I have had some quilting cotton fabrics run more than batiks.