Originally Posted by Lobster
Another factor is cost - you're in America, I see. I'm in the UK and routinely pay £10/m for fabric, but I can get something much cheaper for backing wallhangings. I really can't afford to waste good fabric on a backing which no one will see. Nor do I usually buy large quantities of fabric at a time, I generally get quarter metre cuts.
I do get the "but I know it's there" thing, though, as I'm always careful that the backs of my quilts look neat even when no one will see them.
I don't know if you can get bedsheets cheaply in the UK, but they seem to work really well for larger quilts. Who knows, we might come to the point where we BUY sheets, cut them up and make them into quilts (if we can find them cheaply enough)! So far I have been able to use leftover blocks and fabrics from the tops for my backs, but not much longer.