I have four fantastic cotton fabrics, and two batiks that are the perfect colours to go in too. Can I use them together? I've only ever had one or the other in a top, never both. Might be a stupid question! ;-)

All of the batiks I have bought are cotton, and I have used them with other high quality quilt shop cottons with no problems. Some people that hand quilt have problems quilting batiks, but as a machine quilter it hasn't bothered me. Most batiks are woven tighter than some cotton which is the reason for the problem.

I say go for it.. it is your quilt and your rules....

I have mixed them plenty of times!!!

Whew! Didn't want to break one of those "rules" ;-)

The colours are just perfect, and I can't find anything in the same cotton. The batiks feel a little bit thiner, but I don't think it's going to be noticeable.

the breast cancer quilt i did was all batiks in the pink circle and the background fabric was just kona cotton purple.

Oh yeah! Use those batiks with your other cottons! I can hardly wait to see this beauty. I LOVE batiks. Not to rush you, but can you hurry? LOL!

Yes you can, there aren't many rules, just do what you want to, I do :lol:

Yes. The quilt police don't know where we live........

RULES!?!?!?! We don't need no stinking RULES!!!!!!

So true kwhite. I have used them together and never checked an rules. And they worked great.

This is why I love to sew. No rules. i can do whatever I want.

Rule???? That IS a 4 letter word!!!! :shock: :shock: Remember no quilt police here :wink: :wink:

You should not have any problem mixing them, I hear that they play quite nicely together :D :D :D

LOL

You guys are the coolest!

I'm doing the pattern pam had, the lone star with no diamonds, so I want it to be perfect, of course. I'm absolutely in love with the colours I have, so would be devestated if it looked terrible because of the different fabrics.

Good point! And let's face it... even if they did know where I live, we have swine flu down here so they won't want to come and give me detention!

YEAH!

Let's see....it's YOUR quilt, so why would anyone else care, right?
I say go for it....if you like it, that's all that counts.
If someone thinks you are wrong with mixing the 2, then they can just....bugger off!

Now,,,get it done so we can see!!!!

Well put Terri!

I've done a wall hanging in regular cotton with a batik border, because it was just the right colour and it's fine - I hand quilted it as well, no problem!

I agree... batiks are a pain in the butt to hand quilt through, but if you are machine quilting you are singing! I have also mixed the both and it worked out great!

Prewash and dry them very thoroughly before you start cutting, because the cotton will shrink at a higher percentage than the batik. Because of the way batiks are produced, they will not shrink. Cottons will, and they will continue to have a small amount of residual shrinkage over the years.

Sorry if that sounds like a "rule", but I am assuming that you really don't want parts of your quilt to remain flat and smooth and other parts to shrink up.

Also, some of the batiks are heavily over-dyed. They may not fade at all in the wash, but they will bleed -- not just in that first wash where you can use a color-catcher, but also over time.

I prewash everything, but batik colors still bleed. I live in a fairly humid part of the country, and our red-and-white bed quilts show some of the results - even without additional washing, the edges of my white pieces are pink/red.

Believe it or not, the expensive batik fabrics bleed just as much or more than the cheap ones (especially the darker reds and greens,) which have been overdyed). Wash the heck out of them before you start.

Hmm, I use batiks all the time.. didn't know we weren't supposed to.. but then I'm a rebel and a rule breaker...oh.. and I'm a hand piece/quilter and I've never noticed a problem with either...

I always wash my batiks really well too.... especially the cheaper ones. I tend to pick the really strong and bright colours, so am always nervous they'll run.

I must confess though, I don't normally wash anything else. :?

I'm with yu, I have never pre-washed, but now everyone warns me about the batiks, which are almost like chocolate :lol: in my book. can never have enug, never met one I didn't like :wink: Good luck - be sure to show us the result.

Yes, you can mix those two fabrics.
I have done it several times, myself.
I, also, always prewash my fabrics. It
just seems to be part of the sewing
process for me!! :D We will be anxious
to see pic's, as you make progress.
:D :D :D :D :D