DOTTYMO

Must admit since finding the fixion pens for sale in UK different colours and styles I use them. Before I used the chalk in very small areas as it seems to rub off very quickly.
Tried air erasar marked had quick 1/2hr. Lunch . Marks had all disappeared.
Water eraser sometimes takes more water than you think.

117becca

I'm a frixion pen user - won't use anything else. If you travel w/ quilts - don't leave your marked quilt in a hot car - the lines will disappear.

Zinda

I've had success with the erasable pen. It doesn't rub off, but has ironed off of the fabric. I think it's called FriXion. I've only used the black, but recently purchased the set of colored pens. I stopped in a shop where the owner uses only these pens and she does heirloom projects. She's never had a problem. Some of her quilts were whole cloth with exquisite details - just beautiful.

Rose Marie

So far Ive had good luck with the disappearing ink pen. It works well but of course you have to do the sewing the day you mark your quilt.

Stitch124

I used the Crayola markers and had issues with the color coming out of my blocks. (see lower left blocks).

Maybe I was too heavy-handed with the pen or should have used a different color, but now I'm gun-shy about using them.

susanwilley

Do you use them to mark your design on your quilt for quilting?

Phyllis nm

THIS MAY OR NOT BE HELPFUL ALWAYS TEST ON SCRAP

CHALK
For 25 years I have done freehand embroidery work and this has worked best for me.
I ground up different colors of chalk in my mill grinder to see what worked best [what could be seen and removed]. White chalk [baby power, or corn starch] can be vacuumed off on med and dark fabric no problem.
Other colors can be reduced in color intense with white, the more intense the color the harder it is to remove. I just use white and light blue now, the blue is reduced with white. Blue and white chalk is at hardware stores for snap lines [cheap].
You can use a vanishing power with a black light on any color [in the dark]. It is very good for names.

PAPER
I use canary paper from an art or drafting supply.
I tear off more than I need and trace a design with 5mm mechanical pencil, place on a piece of ¼” foam rubber on a firm surface. Then I use a small needle syringe [for shots] and poke holes into the lines at key points about 1/8[SUP]th[/SUP]” apart following the design, then I flip it over and sand off the tips with a sanding block or sand paper. I have also used a clear plastic film a permanent marker and sanded the tips, or a small stencil burner. When sanding place pattern on foam or batting, not on a hard surface, to much pressure you might tear your pattern. Mark top front with an “F” [north] so you know placement direction. This way you can tell which way your pattern is laying, and it is easy to reverse, or flip.
Then I have a reusable pattern I can use over and over.

APPLYING CHALK
I took a short wide mouth ball jar lid and a nail [or drill] punched a lot of holes in it.
Took a ¼”green scrubber cut it to fit inside rim on top of the lid.
Took a scrap of velour about 3/8” larger than the lid and placed it on top of the scrubber then screwed the hole thing together onto the jar with my chalk in it. You will have to pounce a while till the chalk starts coming through good. Wipe off your pattern before replacing it so you don’t get shadows.
I did this, years before any thing else was on the market, and still use the same ones today.

You can use cinnamon to mark on light fabric then wash it away.
I add white chalk to dark blue powered, the blue and red does not want to wash out.

PATTERN MARKING
Holding your pattern down firm with one hand, slide your chalk jar across your pattern in one direction only, you can repeat as long as you do not let up with your first hand. You can see if you need to slide again as long as the first hand stays in place. If it is wrong, vacuum it off and start over.

ON A QUILT MACHINE:
I use a piece of Plexiglas about 48x20 and slide it between my batting and my quilt top. This makes a firmer surface to stencil on. Then I take my pattern stencil and place it where I want it, swipe it with powder. Slide the Plexiglas out and quilt. Then vacuum the power off later.

If unsure where to place your pattern on the quilt after it is on the machine try this. Draw placement lines on your pattern, north-south-east-west. [Fold in half matching center both directions]. Mark your top with an X placement before you load it on the machine. Then you have your placement mark and don’t have to guess alignment.

I just read that if you hair spray your pattern after applying it the chalk stays on till washed. I have not tried it yet.

LETTERING
I have made charts of script alphabets in different sizes 1”-2”-ect. on large sheets of card stock paper. [ years ago, with a projector.] Then I trace and connect my words to transfer to my garment or quilt. Now copy machines are the answer.

Canary paper I buy at a book store across form UNM. They have it at drafting supply stores,12” to 24” wide.

callen

I really like the white Clover powder markers (with tiny wheel) but have had the blue & the yellow get imbedded in the quilt & took forever to get the marks out & some of them never did come out. I use the frixion pens & really like them & with just a shot from my iron, the marks disappear. Just don't put them in your freezer because the marks
re appear. I don't put my quilts in the freezer so that's not an issue for me. LOL The best advice is to make sure you try your markers on a scrap of your material to make sure they will come out.

lclang

There is a mechanical pencil with several colors of "lead", red, white, yellow and maybe blue. They make a nice thin line and you can buy refills if you like them. I'm not sure where I got mine. I've had it for a long time.

jszaja

I found that a makeup pencil sharpener (a larger hole than the reg pencil sharpener) makes a point on regular chalk and helps to make a thinner line.