okay... great! Thanks! Retyne (sp... sorry) it is, on the stove method. I assume my LQS will have it. If not, Keepsake or someone online will. And the salad spinner (love it! great idea), press/no steam. Got it. And use the dyegrabber stuff if/when I ever wash the whole top... and pray, seriously.
I bought a right red Tonga Batik at a LQS and washed it, it bled but not a whole lot. The yellow Tonga did bleed like crazy.
I have a feeling that these strips are not as good a quality as the Tongas, they feel different to me. If they shrink a lot, I'll change out my background fabric to a whole piece, wash it... then cut it into strips matching the batiks for width. It's a simple quilt, and I can work the borders to fit as needed.