Oh, what a question! My mother was handquilting a double wedding ring and used a washable marker on it...after 5 years of working on the quilt, those marks are still there. She should have used the other end of the marker which disappears after being exposed to the air for awhile. Well...now I am trying to finish the hand quilting and I’m using the silver pencil. At this point, I’m not caring too much about the marks, just getting it done! I think I’d go for the tear away paper if I had a do-over. :-)