Quilting fabric at Costco? Sort of:
 

Sometimes I get flannel sheets for kid or baby quilt backings. If I can get quality sheets, it works well. (That can be a big If) I found some flannel sheets at Costco that are cute and are made of great flannel. And, of course, being Costco, very reasonably priced.

While I don't belong to Costco, I have bought flannel sheet sets on sale from department stores after Christmas. I do try not to get Christmas sheets, though. So far, the flannels have been great, and much cheaper than buying yardage.

This begs the question, why can't we use cotton sheets for backings if you are machine quilting? Anyone know the answer to this question?

Back in the 70's when I first taught myself to quilt (not too many books or classes out then, this was even before rotary cutters) I used a percale sheet for a king-sized quilt that I tied. The quilt lasted for over 40 years. Of course, nowadays I wouldn't mix percale with cotton fabric, but there are some good cotton sheets out there that you can get a good buy on when they are on sale. At the cost of fabric these days, it seems it would be cost effective to go this route.

Any opinions?

There is no reason you cannot use a sheet for backing. There are a few things to keep in mind. Some sheets are wildly off grain. I have used sheets for linking curtains for years, but one sheet was off grain my 18 inches and had to be tossed or the curtains would not hang straight. Sheeting can have a much higher thread count that quilting cotton, this is not an issue with flannel sheets. The higher thread count may lead to skipped stitches when quilting and may make hand quilting trickier.

Your quilt, use what works for you.

I have used sheet for backing -- we do that all the time for Lutheran World Relief quilts - but for my own use I tear them to make sure I am working with straight of grain because if the back is not on the true grain I have found it will not machine quilt without ripples. I love the patterns of some of the old sheets so I love to use them on the back.

When I first started trying to learn quilting, I remember reading that sheets did not make good backings because the tight weave was difficult to quilt thru.

However, back then, if it wasn't hand quilted, it wasn't a "real quilt", using those newfangled rotary cutters was considered "cheating", a pieced backing was frowned upon, and strip piecing wasn't a thing yet. (I remember how excited I was the first time I saw a quilt in a day book, lol.)

The first time I used a bedsheet as a backing, it was on a rail fence quilt I really wanted to finish to give to my son for his birthday, but I couldn't afford the fabric for the backing. I figured he was going to be mistreating it and dragging it around anyway, so I used an old sheet. He loved the backing! He said that it was so smooth on the back, that he didn't need a separate bed sheet, stopped using one altogether, and got much better at straightening up his bed, since all he had to do is smooth out his quilt!

I would not use a sheet if I wanted if the crinkled vintage look that requires the shrinking of cotton to obtain. But there are many quilts where I don't want that look, and they are usually the not-hand quilted ones anyway which are good candidates for a sheet backing. Flannel sheets are almost all cotton, and I think flannel backings are a must for baby quilts because they are so soft and non slippery when used. I look for the adorable sheep or critters or snoopy etc. and not the Christmas or too winter scenic ones. Good Luck.

I often use flannel as the backing for small quilts. Sometimes without batting, sometimes with 2 layers of flannel instead of batting. They are more for wrapping than for big quilt warmth. And, with babies, they are going to be in the washer A LOT! My daughter made throws for many of her friends when in high school for them to take with them to competitions (sitting in the stands waiting for awards could get a bit cool). She did the tops with squares of fabrics that meant something to the person and did the backs in flannels without batting. These were great to roll up in their backpacks.

Good info from the sheet users here. I started using sheets years ago.... to make curtains and other things as well before anyone said you couldn't use sheets for home sewing. I got them on sale with coupons from the department stores. I haven't purchased any lately because I seem to have enough fabric hanging around to finish my projects. I've heard to look for 200 thread count for easier sewing?

Oh my gosh, I just had a good laugh remebering when my husband and I were first married, and had just moved into a new home. We needed curtains, but were on a tight budget, so I used an extra pair of sheets I already had. I was so proud of my curtains, and couldn't wait for my husband to come home from work and see how pretty the kitchen looked.

My husband, however, was very conservative, and he was appalled when he came home and saw them. "We fooled around on those curtains!" he said.

Being much less conservative, I couldn't help replying, "not while they where hanging up, but I'm willing to try if you are!"

It was months before he could walk into the kitchen without averting his eyes, lol.