chevif

i recently bought a buch of large bed sheets, think rools of think fabric and not sure how to tell what each is made of and which i should cut into fat quarters and 4x4 quilting squares can someone help me out please.?

ckcowl

you need to *market* it as 'bed-sheets'
many quilters will not use sheets for quilting- the weave is tighter and it is much more difficult to stitch through-
the tags on the sheets should contain fiber content- will say 100% cotton or polyester or what ever combination of fibers are in the sheets.
you can do a burn test on an edge-
cotton will (flame) make ash and still have a soft edge- poly (or other synthetic fiber) will melt- leaving a hard edge.
when (quilters) do use bed sheets they are used as a backing- so fq's and 4" squares would be a waste...only whole sheets are generally used
quilting cottons are normally about 60 thread count-----sheets generally start at about 200 thread count.

CAJAMK

I would sell them as bed sheets for quilters to use as backings. Do not cut the sheets up.

Tartan

I have used bed sheets for the back of quilts when I've machine quilted. They make a very nice backing if the shhet is good quality and no center seam to worry about.

Scissor Queen

I'd be hoppin' mad if someone sold me fabric and it turned out to be old sheets. A fabric fat quarter has a selvedge edge, sheets don't.

jljack

I agree. Be very careful how you represent these. Like the above ladies said, most quilters won't use sheets or pieces of sheets to make quilt tops, although some will use them for backs. Myself, I don't use them at all. So you have to make it really clear what the fabric is.

LadyElisabeth

Good advice, as always. QB is a great place to find answers

Lori S

I could not agree more.

audsgirl

Many people like to use vintage sheets for quilting. On Etsy, there are several sites selling them cut into fat quarters. You can do a test on a scrap of the fabric using a match. Put a piece in an ashtray or something similar. Touch the lit match to the fabric. If it turns to ash, it should be all cotton. If it turns into a hard lump, there is some synthetic fiber in there, most likely polyester. Sheets from the 60s, 70s, and 80s are usually made with some polyester. We loved the no ironing aspect of it.

jaciqltznok

DITTO...I don't use sheet fabric at all!