I dont like blends because sometimes the get those little pill thingys. The poly fibers are shorter than cotton and pill up. Just my thought on it.

dang darn it....didn`t think i could use cotton blends for backing when hand quilting....and to think when thy had the yearly rumage sale for the hospital thy had a huge table full of sheets...i bought all their ties, a lot of doilies....what else should i look for next time???

this is really good news for me!!! I am a new quilter and have been told to NEVER, EVER use a sheet for backing because a long arm can't quilt it correctly. If I can, indeed use sheets, it will cut down the cost of quilting by a TON and make DH so very happy!

depends on how they needle

Those are cute little bags. Have you found a way to re-purpose them?

I have used the cotton blend sheets from Walmart & love them! They feel so soft after washed & never had any to ball. Hate that feeling!
Just a hint: I always buy the next size bigger than what I am going to quilt. The left over makes up for a nice pillow case & I use some of the fabric from the quilt to make the edging on the case! :P

IKEA has some fabulous cotton sheets!

I haven't tried a sheet for machine quilting, but I wouldn't recommend them if you're a hand quilter !
I used some years ago and had a terrible time quilting with them. I even took one off & started over with fabric backing. The thread counts are too high for good hand quilting, and poly blends will feel different than the quilt top. I know some LAQ who won't accept them to quilt, so check first ! :)

This is a mainstay sheet from Walmarts hand quilted. The first quilt I ever made, my avatar It is full size and I had no trouble I and quilted it and no little pills on it I love using those sheets.

Would flannel sheets work for rag quilts?