Has anyone used the 'iron off' pounce pads to mark their top for quilting and if so are there any drawbacks please? Don't want to spend money on something that is going to leave a mark that comes back to haunt me later.

I have one and tried to use it a couple of times, It marks the design fine if you get real close to look at it. Problem is it does not show up dark enough for me to see it unless it is on black or very dark fabric. Was looking for the powder in other colors but not found any yet.

You use it like an eraser and rub it over the stencil.
You don't pound it. I like it as you can mark as you go and don't have to do the entire quilt.

i use it often and have no problems, most of the time i use a small sponge bruch to apply it though because using the eraser applicator works best on a hard surface and i mark after it's on the frame, and if yo don't iron it off it comes right out in the wash

Thanks Kathy. Having seen a demonstration on the Golden Threads website, I think that this might be just the thing for a newbie like me.

Personally, I find it to be a huge p.i.t.a!! You have to really "pounce" the chalk onto the template and when you start to sew, the chalk comes off and the lines are so light you can barely see them. I am using it now on d-i-l's dark purple quilt and it shows up great until I start to quilt then slowly vanishes. Could be because I'm left handed, or maybe not. Anyway, I usually wind up tracing the design with a water soluble quilters pen so I can see the design.
Oh, and the left handed remark is because I hand quilt.

I was told to get different colors you can use colored sidewalk chaulk mixed with the white powder chaulk. Has anyone ever tried that?

I have one and I love it. All I do is pat it to the stencil a couple of times until the powder comes out and then rub it all over the section that I want to mark and then quilt it and I have pressed it off. It will come off in the wash or you can use a damp cloth, not wet, just damp. Love mine but want to find the powder in diffrent colors so I can mark the light colors. I will no doubt buy a new pounce thing also, then I'd have one for lights and one for darks. They do have the dark available I do believe I saw some at joann.com site Have a great day, Huggies, Fay

i like the iron off...not fond of the regular. I have a longarm and it bounces off (the regular) before I get it quilted.

i have no problems with it. i mark an entire quilt top and load it onto the long arm frame and it doesn't wear off.

the iron on is great for everything but light fabrics and for the light fabric i use the glow in the dark iron off and just turn on the black light and i can see the lines without any problems.

I've been using it for years and really like it. The most common mistake people make is thinking that you pounce with it. You don't. You rub it across your stencil and it leaves the pattern markings on the fabric. The only thing I have a problem with is that it only comes in white. So it doesn't show up well on very light colors. Other than that it's great and I've never had a problem ironing it off. It goes right away, unlike some other products I've tried and never been able to remove after I'm done quilting.

I have seen blue powder for it, also, in our LQS.

I think that is just in the regular pounce, not in the iron off.

Me too! That's the key, not pouncing but rubbing!

I have mixed cinnamon into the white powder to us it on lite fabrics, makes the quilt smell pretty and won't stain

try using a cheapo foam brush in stead of the pouncer. I like it alot better. I just dip my brush into the chalk and swipe just like the pouncer. You use alot less..and there is alot less chalk flying around

Wow! That sounds like a great idea. You are very clever.

After reading your post, I did as you said. I rubbed the pounce pad across my quilt and the dang thing came out perfectly!! Told you I have my blond moments! LOL!

I love mine ~ only make sure you don't have the steam setting ON when ironing it off... ask me how I know! oops! It did eventually come off, but it was flannel, and steam made it a little sticky. A good wash with double rinse worked for us. Other than that, I use it all the time, as I make my own stencil designs... Cannot live without mine!

BTW there are a couple sellers on eBay that sell the blue and yellow chalks!

The original question related to the "steam off" pounce or Miracle Chalk.
The manufacturer has not yet found a color that can be added to the "chalk" that will disapear with steam They say they are still working on it. The quilting world is waiting for the color.

For the regular chalk pounce. I have seen it demonstrated by pouncing and then spraying with hair spray to fix the chalk until the piece is quilted and washed. I don't remember if it can be brushed off and not have to wash or it must be washed out. Regular pounce chalk - and even the colored chalk will bounce off in the work. And I would not recommend some colors because they may not come out.
If chalk is used then I recommend that as much of the surface chalk left be removed with brush or dry terry cloth before washing because chalk will cake and may be more difficult to remove.

Great advice now to buy one!

Exactly. Seems just the thing for me.

Save your money. I finally gave mine away after I didn't have any luck. I mark before putting it in my frame and it was gone before I could start quilting. It pounced right off before I knew what was happening.

It also comes in blue, for example ...
https://www.softexpressions.com/software/notions/Pounce.php#blu]https://www.softexpressions.com/soft...Pounce.php#blu[/url]

I bought 2 of them, one blue and one white. The instructions it say to rub it on not pounce it on. Don't know why they call it a pounce.

I took a class with Pam Clarke and she demonstrated the pounce pad, there is a right and wrong side of your stencil, the rough side goes down and u can use a little spray of basting spray to hold it in place, and b4 u use it for the first time she says take it outside or in the garage and really rub the stencil to get the powder worked into the stencil, also you have to make sure the pounce pad is full of chalk, she says to put it in a plastic bag and pounce it until the pad is saturated, also the key is to rub it across the stencil. It is a personal preference, but I think it works very well. I think the reason they call it a pounce pad is to get the chalk worked into it you do have to pounce it with the cover on the pad.

I LOVE the iron-off chalk (Miracle or Ultimate - brand names). I make my own stencils and only use this. I have a mid-arm machine with which I push the fabric around under the needle (no frame). I pounce a limited area at one time, so the chalk doesn't lighten or disappear with handling. I even use it on very light colored fabrics - it's not the greatest, but I can still make out the image. I've removed the regular chalk in the chalk markers and put in the iron-off chalk. Then I use it to free draw designs on my quilt and can iron it off if I don't like the design.

I bought a pen with different colored chalk sticks. Don't buy that. To worked great but did not come out of my quilt.

I love the iron off chaulk too. I am a long arm quilter and I use it after it is loaded and before it is loaded. I also would like another color so it shows up on white

I have the blue powder and it works fine for lighter fabric. It does wear off quickly though when I'm hand quilting. :roll:

i have the pounce pad with the chalk that wipes or washes off. the stencil i used caused me to actually pounce. the directions say to wipe but the pad covering kept getting caught in the sharp edges of the leaf designs on the stencil. so i pounced like crazy. it worked but used a lot of chalk.

I have not used the iron off type but I use the blue colored pounce powder. It shows up on every color I've tried it on. You can also use a black light that will help it to show up on lite colors.

When you first start using a new pounce pad it you need to "load" the pad w/chalk. It takes a while to get the chalk into the pad. When I went to LA class they used it and pounded it to make sure the chalk is in the pad, then using the eraser method works, rather than actually "pouncing" it. I live on a bumpy dirt road so I put mine on the floor of my Jeep for a few weeks to bounce the pounce into the pad.

Hope this helps.

Marie

Yes it does come in blue also.

I just bought some but havent used yet. I got some for light and for dark fabrics.

I had the unfortunate experience of finding this out the hard way. I used the regular pounce pad chalk in blue and it did not wash out. Even after 3 washing I could still see a bit of the blue. The worst part was the peely-balls that developed after the multiple washings. I think I can blame the Connecting Threads fabric for that :(

Everytime I use the pounce (which I love, by the way) when I'm done it looks like I sneezed in a cocaine factory. Even my cat won't come near me when working with it.

It does kind of get all over your machine when the needle punches the fabric it kind of poofs up and dirties your embroidery foot. I have to clean up afterward.

That's kind of why I like to do things that need to be marked all at once.

I find it the easiest. I've found pencils are a pain in the butt.

Love, love, love them. I find they show up great, but with the ones that disappear with an iron - contrary to the name, you don't "pounce" - you "wipe" across. If your marks aren't dark, you are probably pouncing. I have not had problems with marks coming back. If you can't see the marks well, you won't quilt well.

I use it some. I know you need to start by pounding the chalk filled pounce pad on a hard surface to fill the pad with chalk.
You don't "pounce" it on the stencil...you rub it back and forth (like cleaning a counter top with a sponge).

To get color in it...you could add a tiny bit of chalk...but be careful...that chalk with color may be permanent. Best to buy a blue pounce chalk and just add a tiny (1/8 teaspoon) to the filled pounce...shake it well and then pound on hard surface to start the new shade through.

I usually make my own little pad out of a piece of terrycloth...I take the pounce powder (or corn starch), add a touch of cinnamon...(bugs hate cinnamon) to add a little tint of color...and use that filled terrycloth as my pounce..tap/pounce onto a hard surface...then rub over the stencil, as with the pounce pad.

I sometimes even make my own stencils... I'll take a piece of tracing paper, print the design onto it... put several layers together, stitch over the design/layers with an unthreaded sewing machine..take apart...many stencils to pounce with.
Marge

I have used it and I rub the area first with a slightly damp cloth and then it sticks and shows up fine (on dark fabric only).

Recently I bought a laser pen from Floyd and Lizzies quilt shop and drilled a hole thru my long arm machine and fastened it on. The shop told me exactly how to do it.

Now I can lay a pattern right on my quilt and using the laser pen to follow the pattern, I can quilt without having to mark or pounce my quilt.

Do you know the brand name of the Lazer Pen?
Do you have a picture of how it is attached to the quilting maching?

Sounds like a great idea. I would like to try it, however I need a picture to visualize it.