I like to sprinkle a few batik fabrics into my quilts, so now I have quite a stash of batiks that I've been trying to diminish. Over the years, I've noticed quite a few differences in working with batiks, verses other quilting cottons.
- They're two-sided. At least they look that way to me. I can't tell the front from the back.
- They can bleed. I still throw all caution to the wind and don't prewash them. (Am I bad?)
- They're generally thinner fabric than regular Q cottons.
- They don't stretch as much as other Q cottons.
- I tend to create folds and puckers when I machine quilt them. Probably because they're thinner. They mistakenly fold and slip under the walking foot more easily....grrrr.
- They are more expensive than my "bargain basement" Q cottons that I usually buy.
- They can really brighten up a quilt in an instant!
What else have you found out by working with batiks?
~ C