My family loves fleece throws, they use them for keeping warm on cool nights, eventually they get drab and pill up. I use them for batting. Advantage is that they will not shift so you can keep your quilting lines up to 4-6 inches apart, they are very warm batting and make a real warm quilt, they will last as long as the quilt does, they are cheap and easily found in the thrift shops and are easy to needle through. For items that need to be flatter like placemats, I use two layers of a flannel sheet, also thrifted. If you look with a creative eye at the fabrics in thrift shop items you will find lots of really thrifty and very usable fabric for up-cycling and sewing. All the good advice here about using sheets and men's shirts is helpful as well.