I am SO HAPPY to hear that the "quilt police" are unwelcome in other communities, too! Thank goodness most of us have sense enough to ignore (or at least challenge) the "rules" -- like not using sheets, or a particular kind of thread, or mandatory pre-washing, or whatever. Ask a given question to any quilter worth her salt and hopefully her reply will be "it depends...tell me more about what you plan to do." Amen, Sisters!

My favorite "cozy quilt" is backed with a flannel sheet from JC Penny and it gets washed a ton and still looks and feels great.

I tell my customers to buy the lowest thread count sheets...higher counts (over 250 or 300 tops) can cause needle holes in the backing, skipped and shredded stitches...the weave is way to tight above 300...actually, 300 count is pushing it...also I have the customer wash & dry the quilt at least twice.
Marge

I made a quilt for my mom using a floral sheet. I fussy cut the flowers in large squares. It turned out really nice.

I most always use 100% cotton sheets with beautiful results, I mostly machine quilt. I like to use the sheets from Target. They have a 300 thread count and are very soft and quilt up beautifully. Inexpensive too!

I use flannel sheets for the batting. I get them at the thrift shops and they are the perfect weight. Never had any problem with quilting them.

I have also heard you can have problems backing with sheets and esp. hand quilting but it looks like we've got several on here that do it with no problem. Good information to know.

I'm making a little girls quilt right now, and bought a 250 count sheet. Since I'm machine quilting it's no big deal. If I was going to hand quilt then I would use traditional muslin or something. But bed sheets are perfect. No more quilt police.

I have used sheets for years. Love them!!! I use high end ones with lots of thread count as they are so very soft. I try to alway get them on a good sale as they can be expensive otherwise. I have NEVER-- EVER had a problem quilting it. But I machine quilt, not hand quilt. I don't know if that would make a difference.

My family has used sheets for backing for years. A couple of years ago I made four quick quilts for my four grandkids with flannel fat quarters and used flannel sheets bought on sale to use for backing and it worked great. All were individual, but similar and all even had pillow cases to keep their Grandma quilts in when not in use!