Originally Posted by
Shelbie
Sheets work very well for backings. I know that there are some quilters who will disagree but I have often used them. They machine quilt easily, wash and wear well and come in a multitude of colours. I look for the cotton rich sheets in King size so that I have extra to make matching pillowcases. Quilting fabric is at least $15 a metre in Canada and it's hard to justify the extra cost when a sheet can be purchased for about $10 if bought on sale. I buy them at Len's Mills, Giant Tiger (small department store) or Sears and they all sometimes have seconds
available (can't often tell why they are a second) and that's when I stock up. We use sheets all the time for the back of our Community Quilts stitched by our quilt guild.
Bedsheets are most likely OK if you are machine quilting, however for hand quilting it is not recommended because of the denseness of the warp and the weft. Especially with Pima cottons (commonly used in bedding sheets), the thread count is too high per square inch to yield even stitching and can cause more hand fatigue.