It actually can take some time to make a pattern. You can sew the paper pattern on your domestic machine without thread to make holes outlining the pattern and then use this pattern with the pounce powder. The other method I have used is to use the paper pattern like a pantograph. You need to line up with each block but it's not hard to do. If I'm marking my quilt, I only use the white pounce pattern, a white chalk marker (that I got from the pounce booth in Houston) or the purple air erase marker. I will use the blue water soluble marker on my own quilts because I will wash them, but I won't use on a customer's quilt as I have had the blue marks return. If the quilt is submerged in water, the marks will not return. Hope this helps somewhat.