Polly, I don't have a lot of problem with hand piecing batiks. It partly
depends on your needle and your hands. And the fabric itself. A new,
sharp, thin needle works best, but not a long one. I use Roxanne #11
betweens to hand piece with. Works for me. G

A note about using a backstitch for the whole seam. IF this is a quilt
to be used, understand that the extra bulk of the stitching on the
"back" side of the seam can make it wear more quickly than the other
side. Especially if the seam is pressed over the bulky part. So do be
careful there. BG (Think about the chain stitch in clothes and how
that area can really show wear quickly, and is usually where the fabric
ends up tearing.)

Pati, in Phx

Polly Esther wrote:

You might have just saved me some $s and agony, Marcella. There are only 5
or 6 batiks in my stash and those have behaved very nicely in hand-piecing.
I had sort of thought I'd add a lot of them but methinks I will go slowly on
that one. Polly

"Marcella Peek" wrote in message
...

You've gotten wonderful advice already. The only thing I'd add is to
test hand piecing the batiks. I once tried to hand piece a batik top
and wore my fingers off. That was just the first two pieces! Machine
for me when it comes to batiks. You may have a different experience,
but check first before you are stuck.