I consider muslin ( the good quality) to be a corner stone of my stash... its my go to fabric for soo many things. When I get a good deal .. I buy a bolt of bleached and unbleached. I mix it with everything from batiks to flannels. As others have said, do preshrink, it does tend to have more shrinkage. Even the "premium" preshrunk still has about a 3 percent shrink to it.

I have not heard that term "hand" before. Does it mean the same as thread count?

Yes I agree with you about the weight compared to most of JoAnns solids. I've used the bleached and like it just as much as Kona.

I use muslin in any pattern that calls for white or natural, and all my quilts (many, many) are backed in muslin. Of course, a good quality muslin is a must. I have even made drapes for a bedroom out of natural muslin. If you drive thru any Amish country look at the windows---white muslin curtains hang there.

I do not like what I call "painted" white fabric.....that paint will wash out and then one has just "plain" white fabric anyway. And I don't like the "dust" it creates while one is working on it......looks like white snow........So muslin is my choice of white/natural everytime....

hand means the feel and drape of a fabric. does the muslin feel and drape like other fabrics you will be using on the same quilt.

When if doubt, I prewash fabrics, and yes I have used the muslin from JoAnn's. Just remember the origins of quilting started with scraps of anything people could get their hands on...mostly old clothes. No one had quilt shops they went to and spent big money on fabrics. I know there is a ton of opinions on the subject, but for myself, I am not a "show" quilter. So for my projects a variety of fabrics are just fine with me. My very first quilt still hasn't disintegrated, been eaten by bugs when I used starch, or any of the other horrors we've heard. And that for me is rather unsettling, since it was pretty awful, and I would have prefered to see it die in a slow death!!! hahahahahaha

I use muslim all the time - and do mix them when I have that need.

Muslin is fine. I buy it by the bolt. Used to use it for quilt backs but now the trend is for printed backs so I don't use the muslin as much any more,but it works fine.

Go for it! Muslin is cotton, after all. Just wash and dry it and you'll have to iron it too, but it works well.

I also like muslin and use it for piecing and backing. Presently I'm using Moda's Bella muslin as the background fabric in a quilt for my granddaughter, love the color and the 'hand' of the fabric. It was on sale too, 120" wide at less than $8 per yard. A 1 yard cut of it equals 3 yards regular width fabric so you know I'm buying more when I can. I've used some lesser quality muslin for foundation piecing of string quilts. I try to pre wash and dry all my fabrics just so there are no surprises when the quilt is washed. May in Jersery