first of all, if you trace your stencil onto freezer paper and then sew the design thru the paper without any thread in the needle, you will have a small pinpoint of chalk that is plenty to see the design but will not leave the large amounts on top of the quilt like the stencils will, remember, most of them were made to get a pencil point into... if i think i will use the new stencil again, i cover it with clear Contact paper (cheap laminating) and second? The chalk is on the top of the quilt and only a very small trace amount would ever get thru the quilt to the machine... I have never even seen any chalk residue on my machine after doing an entire quilt, and I would, if it was there, because I clean thoroughly before and after every quilt and sometimes in the middle, if it is large.