I used a mattress pad in the very first quilt I ever made. It's still on my bed and holding up well after 9 years. I don't, however, know what you're talking about as far as "thin" or "paper-like". Mine was thick and almost kind of heavy like really thick batting. It's very warm and it worked great. If you have something 'thin' or 'paper-like' you might want to consider using it for foundation piecing like when you make string blocks. Good luck