I sure hope so. I bought one at a consignment shop to use as the middle layer in a flannel rag quilt. Figured it had been washed enough times that it would not shrink and it's a little heavier than using flannel from a bolt.---cheaper, too!

My handquilter did not like for me to use sheets. Too difficult to quilt. If I did want to use it she suggested loose weave (cheaper sheets)

Wow, I am glad you asked this question.....I have always wondered whether sheets could be used for backing.....thanks for all the helpful replies.....I love this site! suz

I had heard other quilters used sheets. Used one of WM 100% cotton flat sheets on my last quilt, it worked really well, quilted easily. I will use them more often now.

beautiful quilt thanks for sharing your info on using sheets for backing

I've used sheets for backing...with no problems.

hi lynn my name is lavada and i just joined so thaks for your info on using sheets for backing

I love using sheets for backing. I get them from garage sales and thrift stores and this makes them much less expensive than buying yardage at the LQS.

I also love the idea of using the leftover sheet material for a matching pillowcase! Will have to keep this in mind for my next quilt project.

I have used both cotton and blends. I also bought some vintage white sheets from an estate sale. They are very high quality yet super soft. I have really enjoyed using them. I agree with the post about how our Grandma's quilted. I did so after remembering the nights spent sleeping in a cast iron bed under a soft quilt made of old clothing scraps. Recently I splurged on some expensive watercolor fabric for a quilt backing and now have buyers remorse. It is just too heavy for my liking. Live and learn.

Sorry! Yuk, don't use sheets at all. Quilt backing comes in asst.sizes and many colors. From 45" to 120" at the cost of the same or lesser then many 45"quilting fabrics.
If you have trouble finding them call Mother Originals Quilt Shop 1-218-568-6924! You will be so pleased!

I use sheets for backing, blends do great.

I am glad this question has been addressed. I have had mostly negative reports on using sheets for backing but from what you ladies have written there seems to be more positive results. Mostly fromwhat i read is its not good for the long arm quilting people to put them on their frames. I do most of my own on my sewing machine so I will plan to use some now. Thanks for all the useful info.

I haven't personally used a sheet for backing, but my quilting buddy does it all the time and has had no problems at all. She hits the Goodwill near her home and buys high quality sheets for a few dollars. The trick to using a sheet is the same as buying fabrics, don't buy anything that looks or feels cheap.

ps - 100% cotton will pill just as bad as a blend. Trust me, I threw away 800 count Egyptian Cotton sheets after three washings because they had pilling, or as I like to call them - dingle-berries.

I have had the walmart Mainstay sheets on my bed for years with no piling! That is why I use them for quilt backs.

barb do you use e regular sewing machine or do you have a quilting machine

I use my Janome reg machine to Free Motion. Why do you ask?

I have seen some long arm quilters (post on their websites) that they will not quilt if bed sheets were used as a backing. I'm not sure why - but I have seen it several times.

Not a problem for me I either hand quilt or stitch in (near) the ditch!

From what I gather they have a hard time putting it on t he frame. I don't know what causes this but that is what I have read and heard.

Well their are other ways to quilt quilts if they are not willing!

What I have read that has always kept me away from sheets was regarding the sheet's tight weave. Apparently since the weave is so tight your machine needle could actually be puncturing the threads and breaking them instead of sliding between the threads like on quilting fabric. I don't know this to be fact so don't quote me on it, but the thought of it scares me enough that I just buy muslin for backing on quilts that are okay with a plain back.

So have I... They do great!

thats what i have heard also but a lot on here don't feel that way. Guess i will have to just try it for my self.

I do had stitching and quilting and use sheets most of the time. I personally have yet to see any damage done to the fabric. Why not try making a small wall topper with a sheet and see how you like it.

The reason I use the sheets is this: Look at your sheets the Tops and Bottoms are hemmed when you buy them and if you
ever get the chance to take a look at some sheets even as for back as the 60's are beyond you will never see any of them frayed at the hem 's where they where sewn by a needle, they
might fray from allot of use at the fold line but never at the actual
sewing lines where the needle went thought the fabric of the sheets. So this tells me that any needle I use to go through them is not going to harm that sheet are my quilt as a whole.
The LQS. well tell you it will because they want to gain the sale of the wide fabric at a wide price, thats why there in
business to make money, not agree that buying the sheets will
do you just fine instead.Just my opinion :-D

I have found in the past that some sheets can be hard to hand quilt. I'm sort of picky. I use cotton with cotton and blends with blended fabric. Haven't had any troube with one shrinking more than the other that way.

BAEB I WAS THINKING ABOUT TRYING MY HAND AT IT BUT WAS NOT SURE IF I COULD MASTER IT

I used a bed sheet on the back of this desert quilt for a little boy, it turned out great. I prewashed all fabrics and washed again when finished. It quilted on my machine without a hitch. I will be doing it again when the quilt is right for it.

I've never had any problem using blended fabric sheets for backing. They do stay nice and smooth. Even my grandmother used them, as well as my Mom.

Thanks for the tips everyone. Next quilt I make I will be using a sheet instead of fabric. I just paid $40 for the backing of a quilt that I am about to hand quilt.

When I face questions like this, I try to remember that quilting was a "use up the scraps" occupation. It has only been in the last thirty years or so that most of the quilts are created using fabric that is now bordering on $10 a yard.
I try to think of what the quilter faced fifty years ago and how she solved her problems ... if one spends enough time back in the "old days" you begin to realize that before the "industry" set the standards, women were using a lot of different materials to create quilts to keep their families warm.
It was an occupation of necessity and necessity doesn't necessarily follow "the rules".
Right now, on my bed, I have a string tied quilt made of double knit fabric. I must say the colors have held up beautifully for the quilt being more than forty years old. Would it win a prize at the County fair? No ... but, then, I am not using it for the prize - - I am using it to keep warm on freezing nights ... and, it does what it was created to do.
There is a group of women/quilters called "The Quilters of Gees Bend" ... look at their quilts and see pieces of overalls, double knits, shirts, blankets ... whatever they could recycle into quilt - - and, don't you know??? A number of "famous" quilters think these are the best quilts since little green apples ...
We use what we have to use to get the job done. A poly/cotton mix will not shrink, perhaps, like an all cotton front will - - but, then it depends on what you are going to do with your quilt.
I use sheets with no problem, but I am not handquilting, and I have heard the the weave is so tight (don't go higher than 200 threads per inch) that handquilting is frustrating to say the least.
To my way of thinking - - sometimes being a purist deprives perfectly capable quilters of really getting involved.
In 1976 when the quilting "craze" resurfaced, we in America have been blessed to be able to purchase tons of fabric that our forefathers could never imagine. We can buy backing in a myriad of colors and textures that is the envy of the world. Those things are luxuries - - we have them now, but they were not always in existence ... the need for warmth against the cold has been universal from the beginning of man ... work with what you have and can afford and if you get really deep into quilting, you will decide what is really important and desirable for yourself as you gain experience. Just starting out? Rest assured that your sheets as backing is not a new invention ... people have forgotten that at one time all the sheets were muslin and you bought them by the yard and stitched them yourself.
ahhhh, luxury <g> it is a beautiful thing - - but, what we have now has not always been <wave>

What thread count should I use that will not get the little pills on it? I would hat for that to happen after all the time I put into making the top.

I would keep the thread count as low as possible, and make sure that it is 110% cotton. It seems to me that the blended sheets tend to pill more than cotton. (But, in this area I am not an expert). the higher the thread count, the more difficult to hand quilt, and I am thinking that the high thread count is what causes a problem for long arm quilters. <wave>

Thank you. It seems like sheets would be less expensive.

I use main stay sheets from Walmart I have used them on my bed for years with no pilling they are 200 thread count and I have no problem hand quilting them I do believe they are a blend. My mom uses them a lot for making pillow covers and I have had some of them yer many years with no pilling either

The voice of experience trumps assumption every time <wave>