What is Pillow Ticking?

After updating our master bedroom and replacing all the bedding, including pillows. I thought that throwing away two king size feather pillows would be a shame and possibly I could reuse them in some way (trying to be a little green). But the pillows had a problem with the feathers coming out through the cover. The pillows had a cleaning label that stated I could wash them. So I washed the pillows in hot water and soap, laid them outside in the sunshine to dry and flipped/fluffed them every 30 minutes until they were completely dry.

This is where I had to figure out how and for what I could reuse them. First I needed to figure a way to stop the feathers from coming out and then what could I make with these feathers. This is what brought me to the question "So what is pillow ticking?"

Pillow ticking is a somewhat stiff tightly woven cotton fabric and this tight weave makes it hard for the feathers to work their way through (sometimes you can find a cotton blend). Usually ticking fabric is off-white or white and striped in blue or red, also you can find it with a floral print and/or stripes. I went to my local JoAnn's and they had a few bolts of 'Pillow Ticking' and the best way to test the tightness of the weave is to hold the fabric up to the light, and if you can see light through the weave it's not a good quality.

I found a pretty white with yellow floral striped ticking.

Now the next question: Ways to Reuse Feather Pillows?