Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Quilting with Sheets by Sandra

Here's a good way to save money when sewing! Twin flat sheets are great for quilt backing, or for piecing quilts together. Twin sheets measure at 66" x 96" and cost about $3.00 at the Walmart in my city. This means I'm getting almost two yards of fabric that is more than 60" wide for about half the price of 45" fabric. Sheets are also better quality than broadcloth. Sheets also make really good backings for quilts. A twin flat sheet is a perfect backing for a twin size quilt, and you can buy two twin sheets for king, queen and full size quilts for about $6.00. Normally you would need six yards of fabric for anything larger than a twin size quilt. You can buy king, queen, or full size sheets for backing too which is great for not having to have seams where you don't want them, but for some reason the price of sheets more than double for anything bigger than a twin size. A king size costs about four times as much so I don't mind the seams since it is just the back of the quilt. However, I am not fond of a seam running down the middle of the back. I think it looks much more professional to use a twin size sheet in the center and sew two matching strips on either side so you have a seam down both sides.
Another plus to using sheets to sew with is that when you piece quilts together and need long strips for the edges of a quilt you don't have to make seams in the wrong places to make them long enough. You are guaranteed to have 96" strips to work with. I use sheets for any sewing that requires solid colored fabric just as long as I can find sheets in the right colors. In fact, I often plan my quilt colors around the colors I can find in sheets in.

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