I mix mine. I will say that batiks do quilt up differently though, so you have to pay more attention to your tension if you are going back and forth between batiks and non-batiks. Just takes a little extra effort.

I mix them all of the time as it is hard to find lighter batiks and I usually find what I want for my background in regular cottons. I also quilt my own and don't have an issue.

Just finished a quilt that had some batiks in it.. didn't prewash and it turned out wonderful.

I can see where some quilters might not like mixing batiks with others. The thread count being different might cause some problems. (although it didn't for me)

Besides: I thought there were no rules. Give it a try!

I mix them and have had no problems, either in piecing or on the longarm.

Heresy, I tell you, heresy! ;-)

Lonnie,

I used to not mix batiks with non-batikds too. Then I saw Edyta Sitar's quilts on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. E.S. is famous for mixing batiks with printed fabrics and the results are just gorgeous (IMHO). So now I mix batiks with all sorts of non-batik fabrics as the fancy strikes me and I've never had a problem. I don't know anything about longarm quilt machines. Maybe they have a hard time because I can tell you that handquilting regular quilt fabric and handquilting batiks is a bit of a different experience. The batiks tend to be higher thread count, I've heard. Anyway, don't worry about it.

Originally the rule I was taught was that you do not mix.

Mix away. I am doing a BOM from a LQS and they are mixed. Personally I like all batiks as a rule in pieced quilts or the background regular with appliqued batiks. Solid blacks with batiks (think modern Amish) are stunning in my opinion.

There is a difference and you may even need to reset your scant quarter inch. But the final product will be worth it.

I don't know why the big deal of mixing. If they are 100% cotton what's the problem. Maybe her issue was with cheap batiks? Here's a close-up of one I did this fall. I didn't have any issues and the colors were just what I needed.

Ditto! And I quilt my own quilts and don't have a problem with mixing them.

I mix them all the time.