Unbleached muslin
 

Would a good quality unbleached muslin be a good option for hand reverse needleturn appliqué? If not, how about suggestions for a white fabric. It wouldn’t have to be a solid color. A fine print of white on white would work too.
Thanks in advance for any information as I’m fairly new at this.

I read elsewhere on here that muslin shrinks. You may want to do a wash test.

I pre wash all of my fabric now. I didn’t when I first started quilting because my teachers said you didn’t have to. One incident with bleeding cured that! I’m more concerned with raveling. I use such a small seam allowance and clip curves and points. I’d like to find an affordable white batik but so far no such luck.

Muslin is a wonderful fabric for quilting. A quilt with a muslin back gets so wonderfully soft with use. It is also very easy to stitch on so great for hand work

Any kind of Muslin has always been my go-to for piecing, applique, and backing, I love how it feels when I'm working with it and I love how it looks in a quilt. I'm making a Double Wedding Ring for my younger sister, it'll have Muslin as the background but I'm using either Ivory or Natural, I just can't make up my mind yet, lol.

It is correct that it does shrink, however, so you need to make sure to prewash your Muslin before you start quilting with it. A simple wash in warm water, dry it in the dryer, then press and you're good to go. I usually wash mine twice, that's just me being on the safe side but it is a good practice to start getting into the habit of doing.

One fabric I always buy by the bolt is both bleached and unbleached muslin. I always pre-wash before using muslin and love how they handle with applique..Unbleached muslin should do just fine for you.

A high quality muslin, such as Roc-lon Avalon, would be great for this purpose. It's tighter weave means it does fray less than standard quilting cotton. If I was going to do a hand reverse needleturn appliqué project, that's what I would use.

As an aside, I would use Clover Black Gold needles for a project of this size. They felt weird in my fingers at first, but they glide through the fabric like butter! I use them for English paper piecing, and find that they really reduce my hand fatigue.

Muslin works beautifully. Just wash first as everyone has said.

Roc-lon interests me, but there are no prices showing on there site. Is it expensive? Thanks..

Ignore! I found some being sold through other sites and have prices. Its hard to find 108" muslin for backing anymore which is why I'm interested!

Hobby Lobby, which is where I get my Muslin because I use their 40% coupon to get a full bolt, is currently sold out of all their Muslin, at least at my nearest locations. Marshall's Dry Goods is another good place to get it at a decent price, there are several here that turned me onto their site, I love it.