I have heard from both sides of the fence on this They are convenient, but the weave is definitely tighter, so I avoid them.

They are also extremely inexpensive. I got a black one last week. It's an Ikea sheet, 100% cotton. I think it was full size but it was not marked. I held it to my cutting board and rough measured it. It was about 5 yards of fabric. I paid $4 for it and I don't have to worry about it bleeding to boot. I should try to figure out how to determine if a particular sheet has an especially high thread count before I buy it. That would be helpful. Any ideas on how I could do this? Hold it up to the light maybe?

I get used ones from the used stores and I like them I did a batik quilt once with it on the front and the back was batik that was harder to quilt then using the sheets.

Thanks newbee.

You need a lower thread count for quilt backing. I saw some bargain sheets at Wally World yesterday that said 180 thread count and I thought they would be great for backing. There are thread counts even lower, but I'm a little afraid of them. They might be like cheese cloth after they are washed. froggyintexas

it really isn't hard to figure out the thread count. After you get home with it just measure 1/4" or 1/2" x 4 or 2 and count number of threads in that 1/4 or 1/2 inch. take that figure and square it up. Should give you the thread count. That is way I was told. Often if you can still read the tab it will have it on there.

I always thought that a lower thread count meant that the odds of the sheets pilling were pretty high???

Wow, I think I'd need a magnifying glass to actually count the threads! You must have good eyes. I've yet to find a sheet that has the thread count on the tag unfortunately.

I use sheets all the time as backings and I still don't understand why some people think that they can't be used for machine quilting. All of my machines from my Featherweight, Singer 201, Bernina 830 Record (vintage) and Juki TL98Q and Juki Exceed 600 have absolutely no problem stitching through a sheet. My quilting buddy has a long arm Gammil and she doesn't understand the hesitation with sheets either. We use sheets all of the time for our QOV and she does a pile of them for us with no complaints. I'm sure it could be a different story if you were trying to hand quilt through a tightly woven sheet. We have had this sheet discussion on this forum several times and we've also had it at my quilt guild many times. Some of my quilt buddies think I'm "swearing" when I use sheets and backing in the same sentence. With quilt fabric at $15 a metre in Canada, I am unlikely to change my opinion as I can often buy a King sized sheet for $10 (a second or one from the Clearance Centre for Sears and Bed and Beyond or Len's Mills or Giant Tiger). I suspect it's like a lot of other issues in quilting. Use the materials and methods that work for you.

The thread count determines how tightly a sheet is woven. 300 thread count means 300 threads per square inch, so the higher the thread count, the tighter the weave.