the teacher said that she used aBic mechanical pencil herself and lightly drew in any lines and designs. She stressed that we shouldn't use any of the cheaper pencils and to use it lightly. This is a beginners class for patchwork and quilting, and none of us have any experience of different products. I did use the pencil to draw my design on my needleturned applique piece and because all the lines were covered it was fine. Now I am just starting a sampler QAYG quilt and have just completed a dresden plate on a cream background. I definately don't want to spoilmy effort by using something that will stain the fabric. I will be handquilting it......