Batiks! Batiks! Batiks!

It wasn't until after I booked our trip that I remembered - batik quilting fabric is actually made in Bali!  I don't know how I temporarily forgot it.  Japan has very little batik fabric, and it's my favorite type, so I plan to make the most of our trip here.

First course - mango yogurt parfait with
fresh squeezed pineapple juice
and a cappuccino.  Yum!

We start the day with a wonderful multi-course breakfast at our hotel. 

I don't think Steve is excited as I am about the batik shopping -
that looks like a fake smile.

It turns out I could have hired someone from our hotel, but I used Tripadvisor to find Dewa Alit, a driving service.  Our driver, Nyoman, picks us up in a comfortable, air conditioned car.  He speaks English well so he's able to give us information and history about the area. It's also fun seeing more of the road "rules" during our trip back to Denpasar.  The few traffic lights we see appear to be more of a suggestion than a requirement.  Most intersections have no lights or stop signs.  Whichever direction has cars going keeps moving, until enough traffic backs up in the other direction and they start inching in to the middle.  Then they get right of way.  People are actually very courteous when they drive.

Jalan Sulawesi

It's also very helpful having Nyoman once we reach the market of Denpasar.  He knows where to park the car and how to easily walk over to where the shops are located.  The stores are numbered so it's not too hard to find specific ones. Having him there also makes it so the people on the sidewalks asking you to "buy buy buy" don't bother you as much.  I had read that people found that to be the most distasteful part of being in Bali - people constantly trying to sell you items.  But I don't find it overwhelming during the week we're there.  Usually after you say no a couple of times they go ask someone else.

The covered walkway - bonus square footage for merchandise.

In the market area there are several streets, lined with different fabric stores, so there are literally hundreds of them. The main road is Jalan Sulawesi (jalan means street in Indonesian).  I did some research online, and through other quilters blogs, I narrowed it down to a couple of shops.

Inside the batik fabric shops the employees speak limited English but Nyoman helps to translate when I have more questions. He also gives us good advice – don't follow a person into a shop (again, they are standing at the entrances trying to entice you inside) because if you do the price quoted to you will be higher. 

There are no labels on the bolts but I definitely recognize some of the fabrics as being from Hoffman.  Either way, from my driver and what people wrote on their blogs they should be good quality batiks. (Postscript: When I got home I washed most of the fabrics.  Shrinkage and dye bleeding seemed the same as when I buy material at a local quilt store.) You also don't negotiate at these shops on the price.  Since it ends up being only $2 USD/yard, you know you're not overpaying.

Shop sign

I'm so focused on shopping I forget to take a lot of pictures!  You would be too when prices are only 15% of what you pay in the US (that's NOT 15% off - it's 15% of the US price).  The first store is Toko Madju (shop number 19), and the cotton batiks are located in the back on bolts (I think it's rayon in the front).  I'm able to pile up all my bolts, then they cut them.  It's lots of fun to say "3 meters," and know it's going to cost less than $6.50.

The shelves of cotton batiks

They sell jelly rolls for $10 each and fat quarter collections, charm packs, layer cakes and a few other miscellaneous items like batik covered boxes.  Nyoman nicely carries my bags to the car before we continue on my shopping spree.

It specifically says quilting batiks!

The next place I go is CV Dewi Mas.  They're located on a different street (see the business card - shop #48).  Here the fabric is draped over rods, and luckily my tall husband is able to get down a few on the top row for me.  They also sell the same types of precuts - jelly rolls, fat quarter collections, charm packs and layer cakes.  However, jelly rolls are $15 here.  I could've possibly negotiated that amount by saying the other shop is less, but I'm not really a big fan of precuts so I don't push it.  They also have packs of hexagon precuts, something Maju does not.  There seems to be more choices in the precuts here, too.

Fabrics at CV Dewi Mas

They start cutting my fabric as I pick it out, which makes me a little nervous because I can't watch them while they do it.  But once I'm home and I measure out all my material, it's all accurate to within an inch.  

Testing to see if the fabric reads as light or medium

 


I tend to pick fabric with a monochromatic design, versus multi-color, but they have both types of batiks.  Both stores also have lots of "hand-dye" fabrics.  I stay away from those - it's a very slippery slope to decide you want some in every color! 

Part of the fun of fabric shopping is running into other quilters! We meet several and sometimes cross paths with the same people at different shops. It makes it entertaining because the husbands have someone to talk to and the wives can buy fabric without distraction.

After purchasing over 100 meters of fabric I'm pretty much finished and not necessarily interested in stopping at other stores. I'm starting to worry the empty duffel bag we brought down with us is going to be overfull!

Back at the hotel, I lay out all my goodies.  It fills the king size bed.  I feel like jumping in the middle the fabric, like it's a pile of leaves.  I love all the color!

My goodies!

Then I go to pack the duffel - and there's still room!  I could have bought more!  But what about the weight??  We go to the airport, and Steve says I have to check it because he is not going to carry it around (usually quilt fabric goes in my carry on).  We weigh it at the counter....and it's 57 pounds.  Our limit for checked bags is 70 pounds.  I REALLY could have bought more!   Steve's amazed I hadn't previously figured the weight of a meter of fabric and used the calculations to determine how much to purchase.  Now I know for next time...

It's almost a quarter empty!

Lots of pretty quilts will be made in the future!