Many quilters are in love with batik fabrics. The batiks Westerners are familiar with come in vibrant, wild colors that remind us of the tropics. The unique look of batik fabrics is traditionally made with the wax-resisting dyeing technique. Batik fabrics have been made since ancient times. The process is thought to have originated in either Sumaria or Egypt, although Indonesia has been producing the finest batiks for generations. Here's how it traditionally works: You apply melted wax to the parts of the fabric you don't want dyed. You soak the fabric in dye. Once the fabric is dry, the wax is scraped, boiled, or melted off, leaving only the beautiful pattern. You can achieve a variety of complicated patterns by repeating the process many times over. Because the wax has a tendency to crack, you'll see little threads of dye in the parts of the fabric that were covered by wax. This creates a marbling effect that simply makes batiks all the more distinctive. Thanks to modern technology and materials, batiks can be mass produced in a wide variety of ways. Traditional batiks used to be dark blue, brown, or rust-colored, but modern dyes give us a whole rainbow of colors to work with to create wild and exotic patterns. You can also use stencils or other techniques to get similar results. Batiks can be as complicated or simple as you like. Sometimes the patterns are very distinct, and sometimes they are subtly textured to resemble clouds or wrinkled paper. Regardless of how batiks are made, the end result is a fabric that looks beautiful in any quilt.
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