I absolutely love batiks, the color, the richness, etc. and have purchased (of course enough for everyone on the board to quilt haha). But I have read so often people discussing how batiks are a challenge to work with and now I am intimidated to use them. Why are they difficult to use?

I love batiks & use them all the time & have no problem. I think it's more a personal opinion really. I prewash mine too, even use some Downy when I do, & have never had a problem working with any of them. Try them, you will probably like working with them!...

I'm sure most on here would all love to have as many Batiks as you have so just use and enjoy them.

I am making a batik wedding wall quilt for my son and soon to be DARLING DIL!!!
Anyway, I am hand quilting it and it's working out beautifully! I machine pieced it. No problems and soooooooo pretty!! :D

i use batiks all the time and also make my own.

i have never had a problem working with them.

i do set the dyes with retayne so they won't bleed but aside from that my experience has been great.

I believe that most batiks have a tighter weave. Also the process of dying and using wax gives it a bit more toughness. I have had trouble ( a bit) with putting pins in. Some pins just don't want to pierce the batik fabric. I purchased some button head pins...just for cute. Was going to put a couple in a gift pin cushion. I discovered they are the SHARPEST pins I have found! I got them on the notions wall at JoAnns. Not with the quilting stuff, but by all the pins. Now they are my favorite pin.

I'm with fabric_fancy, have had no problems working with batiks but would strongly recommend pre-washing with a colour catcher. I'm not familiar with retayne, but it sounds like a good suggestion.

I dont find them difficult to work with. I prefer them over regular prints because they tend to have more body and a stiffer hand.

I dont haveany problems with them either!

I have discovered I prefer batiks for hand applique`. The tighter weave from all the shrinking that happens in the dyeing process translates to less fraying of edges when doing needle turn. I use silk pins since it is harder to get some of the more "robust" pins and needles through it.

Soccertxi, thanks for the input on those pins! :D

i love batiks, but i also a hand quilter. they are harder to hand quilt. so, depending on my pattern if i will use batiks. they are beautiful and have done a great looking one in red, whites and blues.

I enjoy using batiks and have not had any problems using them.

I love batiks & use them all the time. Because they are tightly woven, they are excellent for needle turn applique, less. Fraying. They are hard to hand quilt thru so I usually machine quilt

I love batiks! I piece them, applique them, collect them and pet them.

I only have two issues with batiks, They do run/bleed so prewash , recommend pretreat with Retayne. They do require a thin pin , use the thinnest pin... a silk pin as the tight weave make some of the regular pins feel like you are trying to drive nails through the fabric. Hand quilting is more difficult becuase of the tight weave.
They hold a crease better than most quilters cotton, the width of fabric does not stretch as much as regular and do not fray as much as regular fabric.
Have fun ... go forth.... and quilt!

most of the batiks i've used have sewn easily. but i bought a dark one that was terrible to sew through. i was glad when i used most of it up.

I love batiks!!!!!

Love to work with batiks. Never, ever had a problem with bleeding or finding them had to pin or sew.

Do not be afraid! Try one block - you'll be hooked!

I love batiks too and would love to compare batik stashes with you. I have tons of them and I prefer using them over anything else. I even have flannel batiks! I use them for regular piecing and have started applique and use them there as well. I have never had any problems with them bleeding. I love the feel of them and my bargello duvet cover is backed with 108" batik. Use them and enjoy them as they are wonderful.

I love batiks too and enjoy working with them.

ok question..Can you toss ALL the colored batiks in the wash and add retayne or do you wash by color load only?

Wandering...where the heck did you find the flannel batiks?? Sound wonderful!

I've never pre-washed batiks before! Only the finished item and so far no prob.

I use them constantly (going through my Batiks period, I guess!) and I love them. They are a bit stiffer than others but hey, some people starch their fabrics to make them easier to sew....and batiks have their own built-in starch. I love them so much and truly have no problems with them. I don't prewash either....have never had a problem but know that one day I might.....

This is interesting, as I have read that this is more difficult with batiks because of the close knit weave. I prefer to hand quilt, so do I need to use a particular size needle and rethink my stitch length? I always pre-wash.

I've read several times that longarm quilters may have problems with skipped stitches when quilting batiks. I don't remember whether their solution was to slow down when stitching, use a different type of needle or change the tension.

I love batiks but, Amanda, I loooooove your avatar. Are they all your puppies? So sweet!

I prefer working with batiks. They don't stretch as much and rarely fray.

Where do you all purchase Retayne? I have never seen it before and I think it would be a good idea to have some on hand.

I love working w/batiks as well! I was advised to use a "sharps" machine needle with them because of the tighter weave of the fabric. Enjoy your batiks!!

I love and have used Batiks for ages. I was quite surprised when I joined the BB and saw see that people felt they were hard to work with. They do feel a little thicker than some of your other cotton fabrics, but I like that.
I guess it is personal preference. I just love the color play in Batiks.

I use batiks all the time. My son, the sewing machine mechanic, suggested I use a "quilting" needle on my machine. The point is sharper and the shaft is thinner than a universal. It goes through the fabric easier with less chance of pulling threads. His suggestion worked great.

I love batiks. I prewash them in Retayne to set the dye but I use them like any other fabric. I hand quilt. They are woven tighter so they are a little harder to stitch but use a sharp needle and it helps.

Internet or your Local Quilt shop.

They are not difficult to work on, they are very well made & easy to sew on, the only thing I have found is they are hard to hand quilt .

This is why I LOVEEEEEEEEE this board!!!!!!!! I am a hand quilter also, so I am going to experiment on a small project but I am guessing anything large will have to be sent out. You guys are the best! And Barbara, I WISH those were my puppies!!! I have 2 goldens and am a goldenaholic :) Thanks for all the great tips!!

Maybe what they are referring to "hard to work with" is that they are so tightly woven that quilting them is the issue, I have been told by Hand Quilters that they are very difficult to hand quilt, but it's not stopping me Love Batiks

I love Goldens too. That's my Henry over there <<<<<.

ME TOO!!! :D :D :D

Never had a problem with batiks. The last one I purchased, though, a deep, rich, saturated blue, took a lot of rinsing before the color stopped bleeding. It still looks just as good, so I'm happy.