Mixing Batiks with non...would you? have you?
 

I'll be honest - I've never quilted with batiks. :eek: Gasp! I know. :o

I know that they're generally of a higher thread count & quality vs. regular quilting cotton. I know that they're manufactured/hand dyed or something in Asia...

... that's where my knowledge of them ends ...

I have a gorgeous Henry Glass cotton (Seaside Cottage cream) picked out for one of my next projects (king quilt) and I've been looking at tonals to match with it and keep coming back to two or three subtly-patterned batiks.

Can you piece and quilt batiks + non-batiks? Has anyone ever done this?

Care to post pics of your project with this combo? :)

I used a batik for one of the borders on my daughter's quilt. The rest of it is non-batik. It's been washed a few times and it still looks fine. The only caveat is that the batik seems to bleed more (it was a saturated color) so she's still using a color catcher in the washer. I've also made one that was all batik (not my favorite quilt). I am not a big batik fan unless it is something that just screams that it belongs in a particular quilt, but I have a friend who makes gorgeous quilts from batiks. The "quilt police" won't come after you for mixing fabrics! :D

I would go with whatever works for you but batiks bleed quite a bit so remember to use color catchers in the wash. Good luck and have fun.

I have done all batik and I have done a batik and print quilt. I did it in a bargello. I think the trick is having a balance. You don't want all batik and just 1 or 2 prints. You want it to look purposeful. The fabrics I chose for my bargello were fabrics my Mom personally picked out. She chose some batik and some prints so I had to try to make it work. (This is the first quilt I ever finished, so be nice) I even did a double border. First border was a print, second border was a batik, then binding was print. You can see a sliver of the border in this pic.

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I've done it before and will do it again! In this quilt all of the frogs and the green squares in the border are batiks. The background fabrics (yellows) and the dark purple in the borders is 100 % cotton. The backing is also 100% cotton. I washed my fabrics prior to piecing. The batiks do tend to bleed more and with that in mind, I washed them until there wasn't any bleeding. It was gifted to MIL and I don't think she has washed it herself. It lays on the back of her couch, she doesn't want to use it because she doesn't want it to get worn out!!!

do what you want, its your quilt. I won't tell the quilt police on you!!!

I have used both in the same quilt. Just wash them all - the batiks to remove excess dye, and the quilting fabric so it matches the batiks. Batiks are washed multiple times in the dying process, so you want your other fabrics washed, too.

I always mix batiks and good quality quilting cotton. I would not use it together with flannel. The border, several of the baskets and the binding are batik, Hofman.

I have a friend who made a beautiful quilt made with batiks and non-batiks. Her only concern about mixing them was that the non-batiks were much easier to "ease in" than the batiks. She was using precuts, and we all know how accurate they are, so she ended up having to do quite a bit of easing in.

Please, don't call me the quilt police. I'm not telling the OP what she should do, I'm simply giving an answer to the question she asked. What she does with that information is totally up to her and I couldn't care less if she mixes her fabrics.

Here is my friend's quilt.
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