Can I use cotton sheeting for the backing of a quilt? Are there any rules---for/against.
I am going to hand quilt.

I have a friend that uses a king size 100 percent cotton sheet when making quilts for her bed. I have thought about doing the same. Seems like as long as you get a good quality sheet it would be the same. I have also used a few King size pillow cases that were never used for blocks. (when I buy set of sheets the king size pillow cases are way to big for my pillows.

Many people use them and have done so for years and never had a problem. I haven't yet but have decided to give it a try on my next bed quilt. Course my problem is that I've purchased so many quilts backs that they will take me forever to use them all!!!!

if you are going to hand quilt you will want an inexpensive (loose-weave) sheet. the higher the thread count the harder it will be to hand quilt. that is the biggest reason that 'they say' do not use sheets is because the thread count is alot higher than quilting cottons and makes it difficult to get a needle through by hand, by machine sheets work fine. so, i would put together a small practice sandwich and try it out before committing to a whole quilt.

Not easy to hand quilt with a sheet for backing. as ckcowl said the thread count makes it hard to quilt thru.

Sheets are great, no seams to contend with, often less than $10 and they wear well. I use them all the time and always have a stack on hand. I bought a dozen King size cotton sheets (more fabric to use) at $5 just lately. My son was with me and didn't understand what I was thinking. His comment "How many mis-matched sheets does one family need?" If hand quilting look for a cotton sheet with a lower thread count so the weave is not as tight. Save those 600 thread count sheets for machine quilted quilts where they work out perfectly.

When buying the king size pillow cases get the ones that have no seam at the end.

I think the rule is: if it works and you like it, do it!

I do not like sheets for backing. On my longarm the tension can get bad and I have heard it is hard to handquilt through.

I tried to use a sheet for backing one time, way back when. Hand quilting was virtually impossible. The needle wouldn't go through that sheet at all.