I think that burying the knots works a lot better with batiks because of the tight weave. A lot of brand name quilt fabrics aren't that tightly woven and it's very tedious to make a knot that actually pops through, as opposed to gliding through. My current project has a batik back, and it's going swimmingly. I also think it matters if your thread is matching or not. On my current one, I have the top and bottom threads matched to where I am on the top, which makes the quilting show up hugely on the dark backing, but also it makes an interesting pattern on the back. I wouldn't want to use the short stitches there because they'd be too obvious.
hugs,
Charlotte