After reading the posts on cost of marking pens and chalk marks not coming out of the fabric, I got to thinking about teachers. They use chalk everyday, invariably wipe off their hands on their clothes, and that chalk washes out.

On my current piece - I'm at the hand quilting stage - I marked the motif I wanted to use with white, 99 cents a box chalkboard chalk on the dark blue and red fabric. Quilted, and to my delight (and relief) the marks came right off. Used both methods - dusting it off and also water wiping it off.

Worked like a charm! And I have plenty left for drawing on the sidewalk!

Smart thinking Nina!! Did you have a problem keeping a sharp edge to draw with?

Thanks for the tip!! Did you try any of the colored chalk on light fabrics?

No problem with sharp tip - used a crayon sharpener. Used one with a piece on it that catches the shavings - am going to try to put them in flannel and try pouncing to get the pattern once I collect enough. I use that method with baby powder on my ceramics.

Didn't try colored chalks - figured the dye might leave a permanent mark. I've got some my grandkids use on the driveway. Will try on a scrap and let you know. Hopefully tonight.

I'll wait right here... :lol:

Well, the pink and green came out. Didn't try the blue.

Thanks Nina!

Haven't tried this myself but a quilting friend swears by the new chalk markers by Fons and Porter. She says the lines stay in place until you want to remove them. I plan to get same but haven't seen them advertised or in the shops. Anyone else out there who has tried these markers? Suzanne

I haven't tried them either, will be at JoAnn's tomorrow, so will see if they have them there, and if so, use my 50% off coupon, since all the fabric types I like will already be on sale. They had all the quilting notions at 50% off not long ago, but they always exclude Fons and Porter, that's when I whip out my coupons, unless the fabric isn't on sale that I want, but I can use 3 coupons, as long as they are from a different source (e-mail, newspaper,mailer) they filled me in on this at one of the other stores not so close to me, that I can buy 3 different cuts of fabric, using 3 different coupons

I've just started using a new (to me) chalk marker by Dritz and I think I'm going to like it a lot. A friend of mine at my small guild swears by them. The package contains several white, and a variety of other colors for marking light fabrics. The chalks are thin, and are placed in a pen-like holder for marking. It has a little pencil sharpener too. So far I've only used the white, and I like how it marks and comes off fairy easily. I found it at a JoAnn's while I was in Little Rock for the Quilt Congress. Wish we had a JoAnn's close by!

I feel soooo silly. I tried usung chalk for chalk board. The only thing, I could not get a thin line, WELL HELLO- never thought of using a pencil sharpner :roll: