I am a hand quilter and also love doing red work and other forms of hand stitching. I have had a problem with marking my quilt tops as some markers just don't wash out and some do not show up well so I tried something different and it worked for me. I use wash away light weight interfacing and draw my design on it and use glue stick to adhere it to my quilt top. This way I can audition my design with out putting any marks on my fabric. I used this for embroidering on towels and it works great. For doing towels I also use a piece the same size as my design on the back and my thread does not com thru the front or disappear into the towel. I just make sure the glue is not where a quilting line will be and it completley washes out as well as does the interfacing.