How to quilt batik fabrics

I love batiks.  Raise your hand if you love batiks – but hate quilting them.

I’ve heard that they’re rather difficult to quilt.  I haven’t quilted any of my batik tops yet, but at our monthly quilt meeting last weekend, Susan brought a finished batik quilt and told us of her difficulties.

She has a Homesteader, and it kept skipping stitches.  She tried different needles and played with the tension, to no avail.

She turned to the quilting community, and here are the tips she received that worked:

1. Mix 1 part fabric softener with 4 parts water, put in spray bottle, spray generously and quilt it WET.  I can see your eyeballs popping out of your heads!  Susan said this helped, but she still got the occasional skipped stitch.  So she went even further:

2. Spritz silicone spray on top.  Now I hear gasps of shock and horror across the country.  Put your eyeballs back in your head and start breathing normally!  Susan said it worked wonders; after both treatments she had NO more skipped stitches.  The silicone spray washes out.

I’m glad Susan experimented and gave me these tips.  I hope this helps a fellow quilter or two.  Please let me know if you try this and what your results were!