I look for a natural progression in color changes ( hard to define with the right word) , not an abrubt blob of a color that seems to appear without a balance to the rest of the yardage.... and a pattern that flows thru the yardage as well. For me its difficult to work with a batik that has color changes that are not dispersed with some balance in the yardage.
I buy almost a few hundred yards ( maybe a bit more) a year. If I really think about it the batiks that get used the most are those whose colors appear in the same quadrant of the color wheel. the project may have other contrast but I pick differnent fabrics to accomplish the contrast. But a few "focus" batiks will have colors in the same quadrant but the "backround" is across from them on the color wheel , take for example the great fall batiks.
The watercolors by Hoffman and Kaufman continue to be a good "filler" when stumped for finding a color and pattern suitable , but I am contastantly on the look out for good alternatives , that would be small patterns ( that will read in the smallest of cuts) and colors that blend to the eye from a distance of 4 ft or so.
Not a fan of geometric patterns or the apperance of a perseved "grid" in batiks , there seems to be a natural conflict ..... the pattern looks ... too predicable ... and this is a conflict in my brain as to what I like about batiks .
It is very hard to define a great batik .. but I know them when I see them....
Moda had some great lines a few years ago .. but seems to have lost some of its ...... great use of colors.
Its a issue with batiks not having any way to identify the manufacture once you leave the shop.... No selvage identifier to remind the consumer whose product you are using. I do like that some of the online retailers have the stickers that arrive on the yardage that tell the manufacture and some the manufactures stock number ... this is really important info when the watercolors are used ... if you need more and the number is on it you can get that one again.