Batiks.com

Flannel Batik is one of the most gorgeous, soft, and tactile pleasures.  It may feel a little rough on the bolt but wash that puppy and it fluffs happily.

We have not been able to get patterned flannel batik for awhile but just received 32 bolts of gorgeous.  We offer a variety of colors, designs, and solid-y pieces.

Prewash your flannel batik to remove any remaining wax and any extra dye from the fabrics.  Remember this is Indonesian Batik made in Bali without washing machines and other benefits we take for granted.

I wash it with medium or high heat.  I finish the ends of the flannel before washing so I don’t lose much to raveling.

I am feeling a Quickest Quick Step in my future!

This pattern is ideal for flannel.  It takes just 9 fat quarters for the front and 9 for the back plus the borders and binding.

The Quick Step Quilt sews and quilts at the same time.  I enjoy giving each side a different personality in color.  It usually ends up hot one side and cool the other.

One side could be flannel and the other cotton batik!

Have fun quilting!  Carol Britt

Red is my favorite color. I like red foods (tomato, strawberries, cherries, etc), red heads (my husband, Marty), red sunsets, red flowers, red, red, red.

I don’t have a red wall in my house but do collect Ruby Red glasses from the depression.  Red is the accent of choice in my life.

Red batik is hard to find and I really don’t let myself buy everyone I see – but it’s close!

Reds can be true red, red orange, or red violet.  Pink is light red!

Red can be scary to a quilter or sewist.

I remember my white and red kettlecloth dress I made in 8th grade.  I refused to prewash because I wanted it to wear tomorrow!  Well, of course, when I washed it I was left with a pink and red dress.

Red dyes are more permanent these days but it never hurts to prewash your fabrics.

Most batik do not bleed.  They have been through so much being dyed, stamped with wax, painted, dyed, and boiled to remove the wax, that very little bleeding is left to do.  To be safe, prewash.  I use Quilt Soap.

If the batik has no design on it, it hasn’t had the dye set as firmly as one that has gone through the wax removal process.  I definitely wash this style of handpaint.

I will throw in a Color Collector that you can get from the grocery store just to be safe.

If I really don’t trust the fabric, I test a 2″ square in water and the microwave.  If I see excess dye in abundance, I will set the dye with Retayne carefully following the instructions.  With the Color Collectors, I rarely have an issue.

Our own red jelly roll goes from pink, to red, to dark red.  All the values and shades.  There are 40 different 2.5″ strips in our die cut batik jelly rolls.

We also offer a pink jelly roll.  All the luscious shades of pink are there!

Know that there will always be red choices at Batiks Etcetera & Sew What Fabrics!

Happy Valentine’s Day,  Carol Britt

I added a new page to the Blog.  It doesn’t automatically get pulled on networked blogs.  So don’t miss “How to Wash Batiks and Set Dyes” under the “About Batik” page.  It is a tab at the top of the blog.

Check it out!

Carol