applique

I have been buying and using batiks since the 1970s when they were about $4 a yard. I have a box of them in the closet and they have not changed at all. Back then they were hand stamped and certainly looked different! These were bought in 1974 and look more like today's African prints!

applique

There are cotton batiks and newer rayon batiks. Two totally different fabrics.

yolajean

Oh, boy! Good information and happy to know about these issues. I keep an ongoing journal of the quilts that I make. A photo, the name, who it was made for, the fabric top and back, the batting and the date completed. From this post, I am going to be much more specific from now on and journal the thread color, type, top and bottom. And now, the fabrics that I used, the maker and the date purchased. This is just for me so the more information, the better.

Right now I am making, what I call, a floating log cabin quilt, which has a great deal of white fabric. The white fabric is Kona and I am so disappointed in it because it is fraying quite badly. The fabric was laundered and starched before cutting. As I was piecing the blocks and noticed the excessive fraying, I starched the back of the block hoping this would help it hasn't. The problem with using the white fabric is that you are able to see through it and every thread shows in the front. Quilting helps disguise it and so I am hoping that the quilting I do will hide the threads.

Tothill

I love batiks and will continue to use them. I do not make heirloom quilts, nor do I expect them to have a useful life for more than 5-10 years.

I can understand that it is disappointing to have a fabric decay. Even more so, when the rest of the fabrics are still in good shape.

b.zang

I also have a 15-year-old quilt that has been used daily and washed regularly. On my last washing, I noticed the fabric is beginning to wear out and there are little holes in it, but they are in the edges where I'm sure they're from wear. But, as others have noticed, two fabrics are fading more quickly than the rest.

In the end, the quilt will probably end up on the dog's bed or some other place where the hard use will finally wear it out completely. It will have lived a good life. I don't mind using something until it wears out. It sounds like my quilts with any batik in them will simply have a shorter life, giving me an excuse to make some more.