Old 10-01-2011, 11:38 AM
  #62  
Johanna Fritz
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Menomonee Falls, WI
Posts: 560
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I love to hand quilt, but generally, batik does not hand quilt very easily. It is a fabric with a higher thread count and, due to the rinsing in hot water to release the wax used in making the design, this also shrinks the spaces between the fibers. I tried to quilt batik once and I could not get the stitches to be spaced evenly, due to the difficulty in hand quilting. I wish you luck. Generally, about hand quilting designs, I like to do 2 things. 1st, think "opposites." If your design is full of curves and circles (like a drunkards path) you might want to try very geometric, linear designs. If you have a pattern that is very geometric (like log cabin) with sq and triangles, you might want to try a quilting pattern that has curves and circles, like a Baptist fan or Clam Shells.
2nd thing I like to do: Put a piece of tracing paper over the blocks or areas. If you prefer, you can draw on a sheet of plastic transparency. You can lay either material over the blocks and see how you like the designs that you draw on top of the quilt. Since you can see through the tracing paper or plastic sheets, it is easy to "preview" designs.
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