I have never made a traditional quilt yet, just rag quilts, mainly because I have a small throated machine...and well, I am just clueless really. Anyway, I recently acquired 2 kitchen garbage bags full of batiks that someone didn't want them...for free :). Yes, 2 full garbage bags! Funny thing is, it didn't even make a dent in her stash of just batiks!

I would like your ideas on a beginner-friendly, batik-complimentary quilt pattern to use them with. I have all varying colors, patterns, etc., so keep that in mind. I just know that some patterns may not work as well with batiks, but I know you all will have brilliant ideas. I plan on using some of it for appliqué, but I am sure I will have enough scraps for that!

Thanks for your help and have a fantabulous day!

Wow! I am now a regular here!! I am excited! :lol:

Ooooh lucky you!!!!
What about some of these?
http://www.ttfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fab...?patternID=246
http://www.ttfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fab...?patternID=244
http://www.ttfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fab...?patternID=243
http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/conten...sp?ImageID=565
http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/conten...sp?ImageID=458
http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/conten...sp?ImageID=420
I could go on and on, so many choices. Or I could just save you the trouble and you could just send them all to me :mrgreen:

Congratulations on your regular status!! :D:D
I can't think of any pattern that wouldn't work with batiks.
Wow, you struck gold!! :D

WOW! i am never in the right place at the right time!
what a haul...
there are a few book out there specifically for batik quilts but i think pretty much any quilt pattern is wonderful in Batiks.

one year i signed up to participate in the lqs' saturday sampler program-
you go once a month receive a block kit- take the finished block in the next month to get the next one...
anyway- we used the Alex Anderson Book- Keep Quilting with Alex Anderson---it is star blocks.
the shop offered it in 2 color ways- 1 batiks - one 30's fabrics- i decided to do them both---plus i pulled from my stash and made the same blocks in flannels and bright novelty prints -- Yup--made 4 quilts from that program that year---
each one is AWESOME...each one is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the next- it really is amazing how blocks change with color/fabric choices....
be adventurous-
visit a place like quilters cache and make sampler blocks with your batiks...
or
join the June fabshophop--the quilt blocks being found in the hop would be FABULOUS in batiks!

Wow, what good luck. Like many of us, your benefactor must be a true fabricholic - in the extreme.

For a beginner (or anyone!) Ohio Star would be a good pattern. After collecting batiiks for a number of years, that's my plan :) Here's a free, relative easy pattern:
http://www.quilterscache.com/O/OhioStarBlock.html

BTW, if you haven't checked out quilterscache, it's an awesome site :thumbup:

This is a great pattern for using lots of different patterns and colors. If you search Boxed Squares in the search engine on this board you will see many different quilts made by members of the board.

http://www.maryquilts.com/boxed-squares/

This is another pattern that looks great in batiks.

http://www.quiltville.com/striptwist.shtml

I love batiks and they're almost always my fabric of choice. If I were you I'd just find a pattern I love and make it in batiks. I don't think there are many patterns that wouldn't look good done with batiks. Have fun!

I made a quilt with moda Marbles and a batik border- I think it would work well for all batiks too. It was very easy and the pattern was in a library book!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-44145-1.htm

Wow good luck.

I would highly recommend the Bento Box! It's an easier pattern that looks just amazing with scrappy batiks.

I would be happy to take some of those batiks off of your hands. :-) i would also pay shipping. Just about any pattern works well in batiks. it is just your tastes. and it is about color, texture, and fabric placement that makes one style of fabric work over another. if you want a really really easy one a batik jewel box is a good beginner quilt top and you can make it any size that you want. http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpa..._box_quilt.htm
I have one that I just finished with white as a background. I will have to post some pics soon. if you post some pics of your batiks then we might be able to give better pattern suggestions and we always love to see peoples lucky fabric finds. (PS can I get the name and number of this lady? I would love to get a couple of bags of batiks too. hehe j/k.)

Ooooh...I'm so jealous!!! I would also suggest using the "search" tool above and look up "Batiks" or "Batik quilts" to get some ideas. There are some gorgeous ones done by members on the board!! I'm actually looking at two today that I think might be relatively easy...both were found on the Hoffman site some time ago, so I'm not sure if they are still available for free.
They are : "Desert Nine-Patch" and "Jungle Rain" both by Karen Montgomery and would lend themselves nicely to a variety of batik fabrics within one quilt.

I too am starting to like the Batiks, thinking of doing a star pattern in them...

Thanks for the ideas! You know, I signed up for a Thangles BOM that is all different stars and I believe that you have enough to make 2 quilts! Maybe I will try it! Thanks again :)

OMG..if you only knew how extreme! These were going in the trash! I also got a box full of books and another garbage bag full of fabric a while back. She owns several homes...one house, the entire second story of the farm house is all sewing and mainly where she keeps her flannels and wool felt...that's all! Then her house here she has the great room as her sewing room/ full of fab fabs as well as the huge room next door to it...that houses more flannels, batiks, and wool. She swears she is giving up sewing soon, as she has been there/ done that with all aspects of it. I will help her out! lol

Thanks, everyone, for all of the ideas, sites, etc. I didn't know they were that universal really. I am sure these will keep me busy for a bit!

Yes, I am very fortunate to have a friend such as this and I am sure there will be tons more :) The funniest thing about her, really, is that she is not a quilter, but owns more quilting fabric than your local Joann's and then some. She makes the most beautiful coats from home dec fabric you will ever see in your life! I am getting lessons soon! Yay!

Look on the Hoffman site. There are heaps of batik quilts for free.

My vote is a Turning Twenty pattern! I've got a top completed in my UFO basket and it's all batiks and it's LOVELY!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-93128-1.htm#2336449
Here are 2 quilts I made with batiks. The first is called Hanky Panky and the 2nd is an aardvark pattern called Borialis (sp) The first was easy the 2nd just took time but was fun.

I make quilted bowls wth batik fabric. They come out beautifully.

I live in south central Missouri, if you need any help getting rid of her stuff when she really gives it up I have a pickup and a stock trailer, however no one who loves fabric ever gives it up.

My first quilt was a Lucky Star by Terry Attkinson.It was made out of batiks and turned out beautiful.
Welcome to the group, there are a lot of great people here.

I can hardly wait to get home for my week-end of quilting. I want to try the Boxed Squares. I have a grocery bag of scraps that I want to use up this summer and this pattern gives me a new option. Thanks for the links and good ideas.

It sounds like she has her own and now your "store." Enjoy the fabric.

Actually, batiks seem to work well for any pattern. I am currently doing a BOM at the LQS, but I didn't like their fabrics, so I am using batiks instead. The blocks are looking good (flowers and baskets).

So very happy for you. What a friend! None of my friends sew, or quilt, so I don't ever expect a fabric windfall.

Boy did you find yourself falling into a blanket of batiks - lucky girl. I can't think of anything that you couldn't use with batiks. How about a Boston Commons quilt - I've been saving my stash over several years until I've accumulated the right fabrics, but it would look great scrappy too. Lucky you, I'm so jealous, as I love batik fabrics. Because of the fabric they use, you will find them easy to work with as they iron quickly and easily. You will love sewing with them.

Turning 20 is an easy pattern and just right for assorted sizes of fabric and assorted colors.

I just made Hanging Gardens in batiks and used unbleached muslin for a background. It came out wonderful. It is off to the quilter's.
Here is a link to the pattern
http://www.cozyquilt.com/aspx/Produc...?productID=903
I will TRY to attach a picture too but I'm still finding my way doing that.

Love both of them, but the second scares me! I really like how the white makes the batiks pop! Some batik quilts I have seen just must not have had enough contrast, because they seemed to meld together...not your Hanky Panky!

Great idea! Are you talking about the kind that are wrapped around the clothesline?

I am currently working on a log cabin made with batiks.

Funny you mention that, because I have never known anyone who machine sewed ever! My family only did hand work, embroidery, crochet, knitting, etc. I had a major love of those beautiful fabrics in the store, where I would spend hours looking, but had no clue what they were or used for! I decided it was ridiculous to love fabric so much and not have a clue what to do with it, so I went out and bought a machine.

I actually met this friend at the dealer where I bought my machine. I was taking a class, where I paid to be completely humiliated, and she brushed them out of the way and helped me. We just hit it off and been friends ever since..she is 25 yrs. my senior.

I'm working on a "Turning Twenty" quilt right now. It's from a set of batik fat quarters that DH spied in the fabric store and he said he was buying them for me to make him a quilt! (How great was that!) Since I'm fairly inexperienced I'm doing the turning twenty and it's coming out spectacular!

I picked up a copy of the latest QUILT magazine today and it has the perfect pattern for you! It's the August/September 2011 issue and the quilt is called "Rhythm in Blues". It's shown in all blue batiks but would be gorgeous with multicolors. I like patterns that leave the batiks in pretty big pieces to show off their designs, and this one does....

I have several pairs of Bali-Pops I wanted to turn into a queen sized quilts, but I didn't really like the patterns ... until I saw the Jan/Feb 2011 McCall's Quilting magazine issue - pages 57-59, "Architectural Gem." There are 4-patches, stacked rectangles ("Chinese Coins") and pieced columns of squares.

To give you a heads up about fabric requirements, the pattern calls for:
2 packages of Bali-Pops (a single package is the equivalent of a jelly roll - 40 strips measuring 2 1/2" by the width of the fabric (41"-43" typically) OR 4 3/4-5 yards
4 1/2 yards sashing fabric
1 1/2 yard for part of the pieced border
Backing

I'd also recommend YELLOW BRICK ROAD (Atkinson Designs, comes in several sizes) or a LOG CABIN quilt using batiks. These are easy to construct, can be done in assembly line fashion, and will blend just about ANY combination of fabrics beautifully.

The blocks are also larger, so the final assembly can be broken up into units sized to accommodate your narrower) throat sewing machine.

I'm green with envy! How nice.

Ok, I have been studying all sorts of quilts the past few days and here is what I know my tastes are so far..lol. I do love scrappy quilts, but I would need a neutral/ light contrast to use with them. I like the "Pop" factor:) I also think that I like a fairly orderly scrappy quilt...if that makes sense? Like log cabins are scrappy but they usually go light to dark, 9-P is usually set next to a solid in a pattern. The turning 20 confuses me, because I guess that I am looking for a pattern, and it seems to just be scattered. Ok, I'm weird..I blame it on my undiagnosed ADD that I MUST have, as there is no other explanation for some of my quirks! lol

Ok, I have another deep question, of another topic, that I am going to post. I am sure many of you will also have advice for that as well!

Thanks for the tips on the magazines! I will see if I can find the older issues :)

Here are a couple I have made in the last 5 weeks for graduation gifts for my grands