I’ve begun working on a quilt titled “A Kettle of Fish” using batik fabric. Here’s a picture of some of the fabric I’m using

And I’ve created a couple of blocks one of which looks like this

If you squint you can the dark green fish heading toward your left.

Batik (pronounced 'Bah-Teak') is a technique used to dye fabrics. First, melted wax is applied to the fabric in the areas that are to be free of dye. There are various methods used to apply the liquid wax, but brushing or directly pouring the wax are the most common. Once the molten wax cools, it hardens and penetrates into the fabric. Next the fabric is soaked in dye. The wax prevents dye from penetrating onto the fabric and therefore keeps those areas of fabric in their original color.

To remove the wax after the dyeing process, a solvent can be used. Alternatively, the hardened wax can be pressed out with an iron; the hot surface melts the wax it is pressed through the fabric. If a multiple-colored design is desired, the process is repeated for each color.

This project will take a while to complete, but I’ll update you as I go along.