zipit

I try and buy one manufacturer since my friend reps for them. That being said, I buy what catches my eye and touch.

KellyeL.

I love my batiks in jewel tones. I can't wait until Hoffman's new Mariposa Grove comes out.

SueSew

Kaufman batiks I bought have wonderful smooth fabric to start from so I would buy them if they maintain the fabric quality.
I don't like rough-looking tie-dye smeary blotchy look - there needs to be a consistency in the color variation over say 6 sq. in. so that one cut piece isn't radically different from the next and they blend.
And I don't much like the multi-color look - I've bought some fabric which matched my color scheme and got it home and now I think it looks like a slightly blurry salad. Good thing it is on the back of my placemats LOL
I've tried to use neutrals in batiks but they all just look dirty to me.

susieqwva

I love Hoffman and Island Batiks.

Landers

When I initially started seeing the batiks, I just knew that I was not going to like them. I has such a Traditional pattern Quilter but.... I must say that I have changed my mind! I have fallen in love with Hoffman's batiks!

I just completed ordering my second shipment of XMAS batiks online from Christmas Cloth Store Newletter and this website is part of the Fat Quarters Shop website. The Batik Medleys are to died sewing for!!!

mshawii

I have ordered BatiksPlus a lot. But I usually buy them at a quilt shop so I can actually fondle them to feel the weight, and color saturation.

jpthequilter

Hoo boy, there are a LOT of differences among batiks.
I am a very picky batik lover. There are very murky unattractive batiks, and there are others of beautiful bright colors. There are shaded, soft mottled looks. and there are prints, some tone on tone, some quite contrasting.
There is a great variety of weights of fabric to, from thick, stiff fabric, to quite a nice flexible handfeel.
I encourage everybody to be picky!
It is better to sew the same weights/thread count fabrics together in the same quilt.
Some are more colorfast, too. It is better to wash them first, if you are in doubt.

suzanprincess

I'm picky about my beloved batiks, demanding a good hand, color that calls to me, and pattern that moves smoothly across the fabric. It might be bold, or muted, jewel tones or softer, but it has to "sing" to me. They will be used as both focus and blenders, eventually, and in the meantime I just visit them and fondle them, in store and in stash. I've bought many fabrics online, but rarely batiks unless brands I know/trust. I always check the ones at JoAnn's, but have yet to buy one, while I bought many at the last two LQS sales I happened across, and none the several visits previously. (The whole choir was singing the last couple times, wth full orchestra!)

Favorite Fabrics

Carolyn, I wasn't really into batiks either until the last two years or so. And I too like Hoffman's the best, and was wondering if it is because their batik designs to be generally a finer, smaller, more delicate scale. And I'm wondering if, because of the smaller scale, it visually feels more similar to the printed fabrics that I've been accustomed to working with.

Some of the other brands - Timeless Treasures comes to mind - has chops (designs) that are bigger, and so they just come across differently to my eyes.

QKO

Nancy, have you seen the new Hoffman Woodcuts yet? We got some of them in, and they're really different.

They went back to the old-time wooden "chops" which give a different, somewhat softer-edged effect than the normal copper "chops." Don't know if they're going to keep doing them, but the ones they've done are really unique!