Mom was a fabulous quilter. She used to tell us that during WWII people used whatever they could find. She said that they would take Bull Durham bags (little off white fabric bags filled with tobacco and rolling papers-sold for 5 cents and had enough to roll 5 cigarettes) and carefully "un-sew" them. Then they'd wash the bag, lay it in the sun to bleach and use the small piece of fabric for the white in their quilts. She could spot a Bull Durham block in a quilt from a pretty good distance and she prized quilts with them in it. BTW, the bags were the cheapest quality possible but they made beautiful quilts. I have the last quilt that mom ever quilted and it's made with some blocks that she bought on an auction just because they had the bag fabric in them.