A WIP becomes UFO when ___ months have passed that you have not worked on the project.
(you determine how many months! I think after 4 months it is still a WIP; after 4 years......it is a UFO - but that is just my opinion, YMMV)

If the quilter (you!) are having trouble telling the right from the wrong side of a batik - then it doesn't matter which side you use, 'cause if you (the quilter) can't tell, then it's for sure no one else can either.

Teresa

Gwen suggested to me a few years ago to mark the wrong side with soap -- I was having a problem with a very, very black Kona.
I can tell the difference in the paper piecing when I would reverse it in the same block. I keep a scented piece of soap from a hotel on my cutting table and just run it on the back side as a routine habit when cutting. Every so often, I am surprised when I press.....I get a whiff of sweetness ....aha......the soap.....hahaha......I'm not sewing enough to remember I marked the fabric (also means I paid no attention to the mark.)

good quality batiks do not have a right side and wrong side...a good reason to use them with paper piecing and patterns that flip components.

I've always thought of batiks as not having a right and wrong side. If it's hard to see a difference, don't worry about it.

Good batiks are reversible, imo. I just look at what direction I want the pattern to go for placement. Heck, I even use the wrong side of regular fabric if I want a more muted color.

Thanks all. I always thought that batiks did have a "right side, the one where the ink(?) marks are sharper and crisper, while the wrong side was slightly blurry. But hey, the pieces are not that big so I doubt anything will look off. But now that I have your "approval", we will soldier on. There are 50 stars to make so it will take some time. I just finished all the cutting, now on to the sewing.
Theresa

There's a right and wrong side on batiks? Who knew :-)

WIP vs UFO status is entirely up to the quilter, in my humble opinion...

V.

A WIP is a longterm project that you take out on a somewhat regular basis. A UFO is something that sits for long periods of time with no thought about it until you come across it and say to yourself "I should get this done sometime" lol

MaryV

Mary, I like that definition! UFO vs WIP is about intention and interest level more than it is about time. Only the quilter knows for sure which it is.

I also like MaryV's definition of a WIP (work in progress) and UFO (UnFinished Object) - and......this moves some of my UFOs into the WIP category, which is a good thing, right?

And can I get back all the time I spent trying to see which was the right side of the batik fabric and which was the wrong side? Just this past year I finally decided not to worry about this issue and just sew - even though I can usually tell which side is which, I'm allowing myself not to notice. ;o)

Teresa

Speaking of wrong side vs right side....I still have problems with certain WOW (White On White) fabric.

Ditto what everyone has said about batiks. My WIP's are where I can see them. The UFO's are put away somewhere. :-)

SharonG/FL

So far, this has worked for WoW: fold up a corner of the fabric and lay flat on the table. Use a strong flashlight (a 36-LED does great) and lay it on one side of the fabric, maybe tipping a bit so the threads make a shadow. Almost all WoW''s are "painted" on and you can see this by the difference of shadow on the fabric. Pattern-shaped shadow is on the face of the fabric. I keep needles with colored thread on hand and just make a big "X" with thread-ends to mark the back. For cut pieces, I use two pins to make an "X" on each piece to denote face of fabric -- if I'm absolutely positive I'll use the cut pieces within 24 hours, a quick line using disappearing marker works fine. You could probably use any marker as long as it's kept within the seam line.

Woven WoWs can also use the shadow method, the sharpest shadow-outline will be on the face. You can also feel the difference, with the smoothest side being the back of the fabric.

But let's be honest here: non-quilters will never notice which is which, and even most quilters won't be able to tell front from back after the quilt is finished. So if you've already used some with the "wrong" side up, no one will know unless you tell them.