WendyMcD

Morning Ya'll, off to infusion for SLE, oh joy. I might be in bed for the rest of the day so I thought I'd like to post my question now so I can come back and chat with ya'll later.

So Batiks, I have trouble hand appliqueing and hand quilting through them and my long armist doesn't want them as they break her needles. The thing is... I love them, they look smashing with black and I really need them to make my Sylvia's Bridal Quilt. I've got a bunch of fabric put up and will be dyeing it when I'm back on my feet. It will take some time to get all of the colors of the rainbow dyed up but I'm thinking I'll need them if I'm really going to work with batiks again.

Any tips? Tricks? helps you can give, greatly appreciated.

feline fanatic

I longarm on an Innova and I have no issues with batiks. I have made quilts out of nothing but batiks but usually I am mixing batiks with regular quilting cottons. It is rare for me to make a quilt with no batiks. I have never had a needle break due to the fabric, it is usually doing something stupid like hitting a ruler. It makes me wonder what your LAer is doing or what kind of machine she has that she is having such issues. I have heard some longarmers complain that they have tension issues on them but I don't find I have these issues.

Some people say they can be difficult to needle (with hand work) due to the fabric being so dense. This is a result of what the greige goods goes through as it is being waxed and dyed and it is subjected to boiling water to remove the wax so it shrinks up as a pretty dense weave. True, it is easier to manipulate a needle through traditional woven quilt prints but the difference to me is negligible so I won't give up using them. I actually love them for applique because they don't ravel as easily and they are fabulous for raw edge fusible applique that is machine stitched down.

But if you are experiencing a lot of problems with them and not willing to find a new longarmer who is willing to work with them, your only option is to do hand dyes, either your own or purchased.

Iceblossom

There are needles now designed for batiks, such as Schmetz's Microtex. A high quality needle for the correct long arm should be fine, but I think making do with an "ok for homespuns and thick thread" needle is not what is I would want to use on batiks. I believe that needles are comparatively cheap and change mine all the time, that helps too. One top = one needle and no more, and maybe a second one for the border.

Macybaby

My Sylvia's bridal sampler is 100% batiks. I swapped out all the applique blocks as I didn't want to do them. Not because they are batiks though. I actually prefer batiks for needle turn as they hold the edge really well. I can finger crease and it stays. I have hand needles with microgrooves and they go through very nicely.

I have had no problem with my LA and batiks. My main gripe with them is that even though I prewash, I've had way more bleeding with dark batiks than any other fabric.

And maybe I don't have any problems with quilting because I do prewash all my fabrics.

donna13350

Batiks do have a special denseness to them, try prewashing them, that takes out whatever it is that makes it so difficult to sew through.

ckcowl

I longarm quilt and use Batiks in pretty much every quilt I make. I’ve never heard of Batiks breaking a needle. I do make sure I have a new, sharp needle in my machine for each new project ( unless I’m doing a few small quilts- then I may do a number of them before the need for a new needle)
i also use Sharps needles for hand appliqué. I tend to do a lot of appliqué. The only time I’ve ever had problems getting needles through my fabrics was when I tried glue or fusible on my pieces- learned my lesson and I never use glue, and only fusible if I’m doing machine appliqué. Never any problem due to Batiks though

applique

Any tips? Tricks? helps you can give, greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE]

I do machine applique (satin stitch) and use batiks. It reduces the fraying and I have an industrial Singer (40+) years old. I use the titanium needles that fit my machine and can do many many many quilts with the same needle. I did send out a top for machine quilting and the quilter complained about breaking needles.She was trying to quilt over the satin stitch is a big nono.

quiltingshorttimer

I also long arm and have never had trouble with batiks--if the front and back are batik, I do loosen the quilt on the frame a tad, but never have broken a needle on it! I do like to use a poly thread on batik, like SoFine #50 or Glide or Magnifico, just because I think the all cotton thread tends not to "slide" as well in the batik. Good luck--I love batiks and sounds like you might too!

FWLover

Another LA quilter here who has never had trouble with Batiks. I have APQS Millennium and order my needles through them. Maybe you could just find another LA quilter when you have a quilt with Batiks. I would be curious as to what type of machine she has.

Mkotch

I love batiks and find they are just fine for hand applique. They hold a crease well and don't ravel as much. I use a straw needle #11 most of the time. My Dear Jane sampler included batiks on black - looked great, so I think your Sylvia's Bridal Sampler should end up fantastic!