quilt backing question
 

I finally finished my first queen sized quilt top. For the backing I found a 100% polyester king sized quilt set that I could afford. Am I crazy to use the flat sheet for the back? It says it has a 400 thread count. I'm not very good at free motion quilting and plan on splitting the batting so I can quilt it myself.

IMHO....I would not use polyester.....the flat sheet principle I think is ok,,,,,,I am going to assume that the top is made out of cotton fabric, I therefore would only use 100% cotton backing.....equal to equal or same to same.......IMHO

Thanks. I'm a little unsure of the quality too. Just hope I can find the receipt and hopefully return the set. Darn, and it matched perfectly. At $20 bucks I should have known it was too good to be true.

I've used top sheets and had nice results. I personally would use 100% cotton, so I am not sure how it would work with 100% polyester.

I have used polycotton sheets for backing. 100% poly, I have not tried. However, for my mother I used a firm poly fleece for warmth. Turned out soft and warm, no problems with the quilting.

I have used poly/cotton blend and had mixed results. If the needle hits some of the poly threads just wrong, it causes runs like in panty hose. Poly/cotton broadcloth was the worst and because of that experience--I would not use the sheets you just bought. Another thought is the thread count is very high compared to normal quilting fabric and it's going to be a bugger to quilt through--almost impossible for hand quilting.

You learn from trying, why not give it a try and see what happens? I have used poly/cotton sheets for backs and they last well but I didn't machine quilt them.

I used poly/cotton sheet for the back of a tied comforter. It worked great, it is beautiful and looks wonderful, it is too warm to use. If we didn't have heat in the winter it would be great. Also, the poly/cotton sheet backing causes the comforter to easily slide off the bed. Just my experience. I haven't used 100% poly sheet.

Sometimes the weave of sheets is too tight and hard to quilt through. My niece always likes to use sheets when I do her quilts. I just make sure I wash and dry them to get out all the sizing and loosen up the weave. They are %100 cotton, but inexpensive. I think the lower the thread count might be better. One of the first quilts I ever made, about 20 years ago I suppose, I used a flannel sheet for the backing. I don't think it was 100% cotton, but it has held up very well. It was tied, not quilted, not sure if that makes a difference.

My concern is the poly/cotton blend - it will shrink at a different rate than the all cotton front. The 2nd concern is the high thread count - is that going to be difficult to quilt? I have finished a quilt for a woman who used a sheet on the back, but the backing was about 25-30 yrs old, so the thread count wasn't as high as they are today.

I dislike the feel of polyester and, even though your quilt may not be touched very much on the back my personal view would be that it would make a quilt less appealing to have one side that did not feel nice to touch.

Thanks for all the support. It's wonderful to know I can come to the Board with a problem and get quick and thoughtful insight. I lost the receipt and cut one of the pillow cases just to see how it would work. I found out there will probably be an issue with the spray basting sticking to it also. Joann's has a 20% off everything coupon so I may see if I can get something else and just adapt the sheets to my bed. One of these times I'll have a project that just happens and skips the problems. LOL

Hey, if you bought a ''set'', why not use the pillow case as a test......sew together some scraps of the SAME quilt fabric and use the SAME batting, quilt as you plan to on the real quilt, then throw it in the washer and dryer and see what happens....might be surprised in a ''good'' way!!!

I didn't think they made sheets in 100 percent poly... do double check! I have seen blends but not 100 percent particularly in a high thread count.

Thanks for the tip. I have a "sample" to practice my free motion quilting on so I'll try washing it when I'm done and see what happens. Maybe I will be presently surprised. If it doesn't work out then I'll get a different back. I have to figure out how to quilt it anyway. It does say on the package"our plush micro-fiber fabric has a hand feel and texture of 400 thread count bedding." Ah ha, pays to read the whole blurb. It says 100% polyester only on the sheet itself. The fact that it was made in China does not please me either, but paying $20 for the set, I didn't notice. Always "lessons learned."

Have you thought about using a muslin back. Some of them are really soft and have a nice feel.

or find a 108 backing. I picked up some at JoAnn's a while back on half of red tag price.

Now that you said "micro- fiber" the 100 percent poly makes sence. Go for it once you have your sample to owrk through the right needle, thread , and tension issues .

I probably wouldn't use 100% poly. I would a poly cotton though.
More important - hand quilting a 400 count sheet would be very difficult

I have used the minkee and it is polyester for the back of a quilt, just did not quilt it close kept about 4 inches between design. Since it was heavier I did not use batting inside and it turned out wonderful. I had needle issues, but my LQS sold me some stuff called "Sewer's Aid" and I put a few drops on the bobbin thread and on the spool of top thread and that fixed my skip stitch problem. It took some time to get the tension set right but just practiced on a scrap before hand.

I would probly try it, but I would definitely wash and dry the sheet first.

I have used poly cotton blend sheet for backing on several different occassions, also machine quilted them...have had no problems with this material.

Thanks for the "Sewer's Aid" tip. Could have used that stuff on my last attempt. My plan is to quilt it as simply as possible since my free motion skills are beginner at best. Am working on the sample and will see how it shakes out in the wash.

I use poly/cotton blend sheets often on cotton quilts. You just need to know that when the cotton shrinks in the top, the backing will not shrink as much...so the back will have a wrinkly/puffy look, more like an antique quilt+.

One thing with sheets...they may look square with their hems...but you have to take all the stitching out and then rip the 4 sides to even out the fabric and "square" it up. I ask customers to wash the sheet at least twice (and dry)...this gets the sizing out & some of the excess dye on dark colors.

I take the stitching out when the quilt top and sheet arrive. I then color test it to make sure it won't still bleed onto the quilt. Once that is done, I treat it like a batik fabric...and have not had any problems quilting it.

Another thing I tell customers...look for the lower thread count...especially on cotton/poly blends...100% cotton...400 count will work fine. Cotton/poly blends...even lower is better.

Unless the sheet is 100% cotton...I don't think I'd use it on a quilt I want to put in a show/contest.

Thanks for the tip on the sheets. Will definitely wash and square up. I washed my little sample and it came out fine. A little puffier on the back maybe, but I'm not planning on entering it in a show.

Please don' use a SHEET. sometimes they pucker.:thumbdown:

Nothing wrong with a sheet for backing!

Question???? Where could you find a sheet that is 100% poly? I've only seen blends and all cotton.

The sample I made came out of the wash and was quite revealing. To my surprise, the cheap sheet washed up very soft and didn't really shrink too much at all. Maybe it's the "micro plush" thing. What surprised me was the $10 a yard cotton doesn't look as nice as I thought it would. Oh well, IF I can now get my Pfaff to behave and do the free motion, I think I'll use the sheet. Thanks to everyone for their great ideas. Love this Board!

Oh, I found the sheet set in my local grocery store. I was in line and really just grabbed it.

I have one friend that gets sheets from the thrift store for her backs. They have already been washed many times, are very soft and you can tell by the feel the thread count. Try for something that feels the weight and look of the fabrics you used for the top

The only problem I could see with the sheet is the thread count. The lower the threads per square inch the more likely they are to pill once washed. Not sure if others are bothered by this but, it's something that really bothers me when sleeping. I just want to sit there and pick them off.

400 isn't a low thread count. It is usually the poly that collects the lint of the cotton causing pills.