Can you/ would you mark gridlines on a Steady Betty? Need to straighten out bowed
 

I have strip sets that are bowing from being sewn. I have a Steady Betty ordered and can't wait to get it. I was wondering if it would be okay to mark some gridlines on it? Not sure what the surface is and if the pen would come off on the fabric (would a sharpie transfer from the surface to fabric after it has had a chance to dry overnight)?. If anyone has experience with this and could let me know if it works okay that would be appreciated.

I have the large Steady Betty and it is a foam fabric. I wouldn't use a permanent marking pen on it. I would use painters tape to make temp grid lines on my ironing board cover, not my Steady Betty. Bowing of strip sets is normal, nothing much you can do about it. The bow goes out when the strip is cut.

Alternate direction of sewing strips really reduces bowing. I tried this on my bargello from a tip in a magazine, and it really worked

When sewing one strip sew from top to bottom, when adding the next start on the other side of the strip you just finished

sharpies brand is alcohol soluable, which means that when the ink comes in contact with alcohol, it will break down and transfer as long as it is wet with alcohol. i would test everything before committing to anything.

The bowing might be caused by uneven feed of top and bottom fabric. I had sewn a lot of long 1" strips and most of them bowed. At one point in the middle of the process I got a new machine with an integrated walking foot and the LQS recommended using it for piecing. The bowing stopped.

Try using a walking foot to sew your strips. If you don't have one - try playing with the presser foot tension to get an even feed of top and bottom fabric.

It could also be a tension issue, sometimes the tension is off just enough to bow the fabric, but not enough to show a bad stitch.

A lot of starch helps as well.

This is the way I sew strips too.
I have a couple of Steady Bettys - absolutely love them - don't get as hot as a regular ironing board.
I would never mark one, for all the reasons stated.