Well if you do get those little balls do what I do I get a cheap shaving razer and runn it over the area and it takes the balls away..:}

Thats what I've been doing. I also pray at the same time that I don't put a hole in the fabric. I wonder what causes these little pain-in-the-butt balls to form. Why some sheets get them and others don't.

I love to hand quilt and I learned the hard way not to use those high thread count sheets for backings. I hadn't even considered that the needle breaks the fabric, thus weakening it. My problem is that you don't get even stitches when quilting with a tight weave. I figure if I'm putting all those hours into hand quilting it, I want it to look nice and uneven stitches (mine, not other peoples) drive me batty!

I don't remember any 100% cotton sheets or t-shirts getting those little pills/balls.

I have had some sleazy poly/cotton sheets pill up horribly.

(I've also had cotton/poly sheets for years that have stayed nice)

I'm a hand quilter and I used to use only muslin for the backs because of the ease then I got into using cotton prints but now that they have the wide width muslin with prints on them I'm using that a lot. My stitches aren't always the same length and it is annoying but I still enjoy hand quilting.

I always wash my sheets a number of times to ge that sizing out of them. I have to drive a good distance to get to a fabric store so I order most of my backings on line. Do you know of good on line stores for backings?