Launching QS Extra Wide Batik Fabric

Extra Wide fabrics are very difficult to get hold of as most manufacturers don't make any and those who do, only make a very limited selection.  These need to be generally ordered months in advance and then just arrive with no notice.  If a fabric is popular and we want to reorder, generally the chances are slim. Batik extra wides are even more difficult to get hold off.

Extra Wide fabrics are approximately 108 inches for standard fabrics and for Batik they are 106 inches wide approx.  They are fantastic for quilt backs, piecing, dress making etc and are of course 100% cotton.

Several months ago we made the decision to source a range of extra wide batiks fabrics of our own and import them from Indonesia.

It was a very long process and the hardest was actually deciding on what to have produced.
I have chosen 20 different colours/designs for our first order.

I asked the factory to send me pictures of them being produced.

Here is a link to a you tube video produced by Moda of the whole process, which really makes you appreciate how much work and effort is involved in this fabric.  Just click the link below.

The Traditional Batik Process


So when the fabrics were ready we then had to arrange shipping.  They took around five weeks by sea to get to the UK. Next they had to have all the correct documentation and payment of import duty and vat in order to clear customs.

This is the first ship which the fabrics started on, on their very long journey to the UK

and today they arrived!

Here are just a few of the bolts now in the store cupboard.

These extra wide batiks have been specially produced on 40's fabric which is slightly less dense a weave than standard Batik fabric which is generally a 50's.

50's fabric is too tight a weave to use as a backing fabric as the needle can damage the threads when quilting and create holes and in turn this can cause bearding (where the wadding pokes out of the holes).  By using the 40's fabric the needle goes between the threads.

The fabrics are now in the online shop here  - http://www.quiltsandwich.co.uk/#!quilt-backs-shop/c50p   click on the batik section. We have the largest collection of extra wide fabrics in the UK.

Minimum cut as usual is half a metre and in the online shop they are just £21 per metre.
As they are extra wide they are almost 2.5 times as wide as standard width, so in reality this would equate to just over £8 per metre of standard width - which is a superb price for high quality batik.

I shall also be launching these at Harrogate Quilt Show, so be sure to call by. I will be on stand 166 & 167.

Extra Wide Quilt Backing Fabrics & Extra Wide Batik Fabrics

We now have one of the largest selections of extra wide quilt backs in the UK.  It happened by accident really, it was never planned.  When we got our longarm and started offering a quilting service, customers often turned up with all kinds of things to use as backing - most of which were less than suitable.

We set about researching extra wide backing fabrics to find out why there appeared to be a problem with supply.

We learnt that not many manufacturers make extra wide and those that do only make a very limited range.  The extra wide backing fabrics are often made for the orders placed and are never repeated again.

So to get a  great range of extra wide backing fabrics you have to deal with & order with many different companies, sometime placing orders six or nine months in advance.

Extra Wide Batik backing fabrics are more complex still.  Batik is generally a tighter weave than normal patchwork fabric. If we standard batik fabric for backing our quilts there is a possibility that instead of our quilting needles passing next to the fibres, instead we may damage the fibres with the millions of stitches we put into our quilts when quilting. The result of this could be bearding. This is when the wadding pokes out of the holes we have made in the backing fabric. Generally standard width batik is made from what is called a 50's fabric and the extra wide batiks are made from 40's fabric which is slightly less dense a weave.

Making Batik fabric is a long and time consuming process and it is usually made in Asia especially Indonesia.

Here is a link to a really interesting video of the process.

Making Batik Fabric

We currently stock around 30 different extra wide Batik fabrics from Timeless Treasure Xtonga range  and also some of the Moda Extra wide Batik fabrics too.

Why do we want extra Wide fabrics when we could just join some patchwork fabrics.  Yes you can do that, but you need to use a wider seam and take off the selvedges.  This still causes a join down the back of the quilt and firstly does not look as good, secondly when on the longarm quilting frame, the seam is often tight yet the fabric to either side can be slack, so a less than perfect result is obtained. Thirdly you need twice as much fabric then you have to join it and this generally works out most costly than buying an extra wide backing fabric.  When you have your quilt longarm quilted here at Quilt Sandwich, if you ask for it cutting down, all the spare pieces of wadding and backing will be returned to you  so you can use for another project or even the binding.

So lets have a look at what extra wide backing fabrics we currently have in stock.

The first range of extra wide backing fabrics I want to talk about is Vineyard.  This is a great all purpose range and it comes in lots of different colours.

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 These are extra wide backing fabrics from the Moda range. 

Here are some of my other Extra Wide Backing Fabrics and these include Blank, Riley Blake Windham, Richard Kaufman & Marcus Fabrics

and these are just a few of our range.  To visit our shop click the link - http://www.quiltsandwich.co.uk