When I first started quilting I used a water soluble stabilzer to draw my quilt pattern onto. It was a little bit costly but I only used it in the borders. After I was done, I cut away the excess material as close as I could and then continued with the quilting in the other areas and then binding the quilt. When everything was done, I soaked the quilt in the tub to make sure that all of the stabilizer dissolved and then I washed the quilt as I normally do. All of the material was gone and it looked nice.
If you can purchase by the yard that will help with the cost. I prefer the water soluble to using either paper or other materials (such as a plastic wrap, etc) because there were no little pieces to pick out of my stitches when it was all done.