Anael

Like the other ladies I mix them all the time too and never had any problems. I do my own FMQ and never noticed any difference in FMQ between the different fabrics. Does that mean I'm bad at FMQ?

dseale40

I think most of what I have used are fairly similar in weight, but I have no problems. Some I have quilted, others I have had quilted by local LAQ, have had no problems or complaints as of yet.

WTxRed

I prefer not to mix batiks and non batiks. It's a personal preference for me. I have however seen a number of quilts lately where they are mixed. Do your own thing!

toolazy

I love batiks mixed with other fabrics!

I have had some batiks that are much more tightly woven than normal quilt fabric. That was @ 10 years ago, though -- the batiks I've bought recently are maybe only a smidge tighter.

I've never had to adjust tension (domestic machines) between batiks and non. For the really tight ones, I have had to change to a new, sharp needle.

nunnyJo

my opinion, do what you want, it is your quilt

mom-6

I haven't had any problems mixing the two. But I have a Featherweight and she is not picky about fabrics or threads as I have heard that some of the newer fancier machines can be.

I do prefer to keep the look of my fabrics similar so I generally use similar style prints as the other fabrics alongside batiks. But that is personal preference for the designs I've used up to now. Never know what I might do next time if the spirit moves in another direction! Lol.

GrandmaPeggy

Me too! It's your quilt. But remember, the quilt police are everywhere.

ghostrider

I disagree with this and think it is unnecessarily alarming to novice quilters. The advice to use lower thread count batiks is bad advice. With batiks, the dyes need a higher thread count to be able to handle the resist and the multiple washings in the batik making process. The designs are sharper and the colors are brighter with higher thread count greige goods as well.

Almost all batiks are a higher thread count than prints or solids and there's really no need to match thread counts within any quilt. It's no different than mixing flannel and quilting cotton. Problems are NOT sure to happen with batiks, especially if you use a microtex (aka sharp) needle.

I often mix batiks (thread count up to 200) with Kona solids (thread count of 60) and/or good quilting cottons (thread count of 68-75) and have never had a complaint from my Bernina or my longarmer. If the longarmer claims her machine "hates" the mix, perhaps you should find someone else to do your quilting. Sounds to me like she's just making excuses for not knowing how to adapt her machine to different quilting conditions.

narnianquilter

Mix away! That's what I do all the time!

lfletcher

I am a longarmer and I don't have a problem with batiks (knock on wood). I personally mix them quite a lot.