batiks 100% when used?
 

Dear Quilt Police... Teheheh.

I am very new to the use of batiks but love them.
I am about to venture out on my first use with them (finally' I've been collecting them forever) bit don't have enough colors to coordinate with a certain color theme I am trying to stay in. So my question is this, is it 'proper' to add solids and blenders to the mix when using batiks?
Thanks for the help.

I was told that if you like the fabrics together there are no rules - it is okay to use whatever you like. So I am currently making a GFG and using batiks with my other cottons. Just FYI - I wash my fabric before using it.

I do as long as the character of the design or look remains the same or is compatible.

Throw that rule book out the window! :D Do it all time (as you can see in my avatar quilt). Not been arrested yet ;)

I bet 98% of my quilts contain some batik fabrics mixed in with the other fabrics... No one has ever had any problems receiving, using, admiring one of them... Even my bargello quilts may be 50-50 with batiks, fairy frosts, and other prints.

I mix them all the time with great results!

If the colors work, go for it! Show us the progress too!
peace

If you like it, then it's fine!

It is perfectly OK to mix batiks with non-batik. Just make sure to prewash and test your batiks for bleeders.

It's fine! Go ahead and be creative. I have found out however that with batiks it can be good to have a neutral worked in. An almond cream color works great.

I do mix them. Finding the proper colors is more important that using one type of fabric in my mind.

This is exactly how I feel. Just remember that batiks are a more closely dense fabric so you may have to adjust your needle for your stitches to be proper.

Definitely. My avatar/profile picture is a quilt done with a mix. It came out just fine.

I use a lot of batiks and as long as the fabrics coordinate, I do what I want. My quilt, my choice. I prewash all material that is washable

I put batiks with blue jeans on a rag quilt I just finished up... . maybe I broke the law ha ha ha

I agree with the others--I mix batiks in with other fabrics a lot--I use them as blenders. In fact I don't think I have ever made a quilt with ONLY batiks!

I have used non batiks with batiks just fine

Rules? We don't need no stinking rules... mix away! :-)

I've only heard one semi-good reason to not mix fabrics. A friend of mine mixed a jelly roll of batiks with a regular quilting cotton background and had tension issues when quilting it. It seemed the batiks wanted one tension setting, and the quilting cotton wanted another.

However, having said that, it hasn't stopped me from mixing them!

I mix any prewashed fabrics. I want them to have all their shrinkage out of their system. I am making an all batik quilt right now and I know at least two of the fabrics aren't batiks, but they look like it and that's good enough for me. Color is more important than 'type' to me.

I'm working on a quilt right now with batiks mixed with regular fabric and solids. You're the quilt artist. So whatever looks good together!

I love batiks with prints, geometrics, stripes, even solids!!!

Your quilt. Your rules. Period. I have trouble finding enough lighter colored batiks to go with the beautiful darker colored batiks. So, I've put those in a quilt. Solids, mottled prints, stuff like that works well with batiks.

For one of the classes I took, I used a jelly roll of batiks [really liked the colors]. I was working away madly when I realized that I would not have enough fabric to complete the top. My instructor reached into her grab bag and found me a stack of fabric with colors which would blend with those I had. They were not batiks, but they went together so well I combined the two different fabric groups. The ladies in the class were amazed with what I had created. That quilt went to a friend who is getting married next week. She cried tears of happiness when she opened the package it was in. She certainly didn't notice that I had combined fabric.

It's your quilt: do what makes you happy.

Bill

A lot of times a blender will add much needed interest to a batik quilt. Be adventurous. Try it....you might like it.

check out Edita Sityer's work.She throws together whatever she wants and her work is stunning.Get rid of all the rules.Who made them anyway?I don't think I spelled her name right,but that's close.

There is no hard and fast rules about going this way with your fabrics, like LoriS says, be sure to prewash batiks. I have a very pretty pair of panties that used to be white and somehow ended up in a load with some red batik pieces. No great shakes because they won't be seen, but you don't want them to fade onto your bed or other clothes.. Have fun, make it pretty and enjoy the process

It's ok to use other fabrics with batiks. It's your quilt, do it the way you want!

I do it all the time, love batiks and throw in a few solids that compliment the colors of the batiks. When I first starting quilting, back when we had a fire in the cave; I didn't like batiks. Then a friend pointed out all the beautiful designs formed and I fell in love with them. So when blended with solids they come alive, go ahead and mix them; there are no rules.

Absolutely, best advice I got when I started quilting is that there are no rules to quilting. I have used batiks along with blenders and solids, whatever floats your boat. Remember, it's your quilt and you make your own rules.

I've mixed batiks with other type fabric and it looks fine. If you like it, it works!

I was told not to mix at a QS I visited on vacation... I don't listen so I mix!

Since batiks tend to lose a bit of excess dye, do pre-wash them so they don't share where they shouldn't. Mix away!! Historically, crazy quilts are a total mix of fabrics, so the quilt police don't have a thread to hang you with!

First thing to remember is that you are making a quilt to suit yourself. So, chose the fabrics your want. Only real rule is to make what you want.

Its your quilt, therefore you can do anything you want. I mix batiks with other fabrics quite frequently.

Prewash, just because you're mixing fabrics that might lose dye or shrink at slightly different rates.