Hi gang, I was just cleaning out the closet with sheets and throwing away some newer sheets that I no longer have bed for them to fit. I have heard that you can't use sheets for the back of quilts but I have never heard why. Can you use them for quilts that are to be used for wall hangings? Just wondering Diane
the only reason i have heard not to use sheets for backing is if you hand quilt...it can be hard to needle.
kristen :)
Diane, good sheets are usually percale and are usually very tightly woven (high thread count). That makes them more difficult (some nearly impossible) to hand-quilt than are typical quilting fabrics. Some are even difficult to tie. I've never machine quilted. They might be OK for that.
I use sheets for the backs of quilts - don't throw them away!
Karen, Queen of Squishies
And if you have pieces of sheets leftover, they are just great for the base for string-piecing , crazy quilt blocks, and I even use them for paper piecing. With the paper piecing, I don't tear away, I just leave it in. Oh my yes, it is hard to hand quilt but mq is just fine. Polly
I have used sheets for backing and have machine quilted with no problems at all
Tho difficult - not impossible - just get a monster needle and brightly colored floss-type thread and quilt away. NEVER throw a sheet away unless it needs mending. Then, get rid of it as fast as you can before the burden becomes too great and you try to mend it.
Ooops, Shelly. Sorry. I didn't explain that very well did I? I mean I use leftover pieces of sheets *instead of* paper. I'm afraid too many Labor Day miles has affected my brain. Polly
No reason why you can't use them for machine quilting. I've done it frequently (although I would eschew poly-cotton, nasty stuff, don't sleep on it either). Good and often cheaper source of extra-wide backing! Sheets aren't easy to hand quilt though. Roberta in D
I never thought of using sheets. I'll have to go down to dh's rag drawer and take back all my old sheets to cut up for paper piecing as I just hate sewing through paper!! and I hate tearing it all off, such a waste of my time! I think you know by now that I'm not a big fan of paper piecing! LOL but I do like the perfect blocks you get from using this method :)
The folks on the 'Professional Longarm Quilter's" group at Groups.Yahoo.com don't seem to like for customers to bring sheets as backing. Seems to cause them stitch quality problems and thread breakage because of the higher density of the fabric.
This is a recurr>Diane, good sheets are usually percale and are usually very tightly woven
Hi Diane.
I have used 100% cotton flannel sheets for backing, hand quilted one and MQ'd the other. I bought them all at thrift stores, so, although they were all in good shape with no holes, they were "broken in", softened by washing but still strong. They turned out great!
I agree about the poly blends, nasty stuff!
Smee
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