It's posts like these that have me scared to death to use any kind of marking device. This is why I do all my quilting freehand. Each motif, feather, curl etc. has its own personality. I use tiger tape if I need to section something off or if I really want feather spines to be sort of similar, I draw on tissue, quilt thru it, then tear it away.

Huh? I've picked up a ball point pen and marked lines on white Kona because it was handy. Didn't scare me one bit. The lines may still be there under the quilting stitch. The quilt won Viewer's Choice at a quilt show, my first entry to any quilt show. I think that was the beginning of who cares about quilt rules for me. LOL

OnebyOne, glad to hear of your success with ballpoint. I have used fine ballpoint also with no problem, water misted and ironed during row construction of where HST marked in pen, no problem. Then....one time I must have grabbed a different pen and discovered that the ink bled the minute I spritzed. It was black and it wouldn't come out, no matter what. I have switched to Frixion for marking during construction, and I don't use anything but fine white chalk or paper tape for marking the quilt top.

I did a little experiment about cold bringing back the color - put red markings on pieces of yellow fabric, 'erased', stuck some in fridge, freezer, and the red did not reappear overnight while in the cold. Maybe if I had left it in there for a week or so, it would be different.

I have not used them yet but another LAQ I know of had problems. She did all the things you were supposed to, to remove the marks (on a white fabric) by applying heat. They came back (the quilt was in in unheated area in winter). She washed the quilt, twice, and there were still residual marks. The marks were hardly noticeable and if she had not pointed them them out to me I would not have seen them but they were there and once seen could not be unseen. She said she will never use them again. I have had great luck with the blue water soluble and purple air erase. I have also had good luck with crayola washable markers but I would never use them on a clients quilt, only my own.

I can't use them on fabric, I make lines so fast the heat erases them immediately. Going slow enough for the ink to stay drives me crazy. Plus Harriet Hargrave pointed out we don't know what these chemicals do to fabrics long-term. You might be creating weak lines all over your quilt. I kind of doubt it, but that plus my "friction" problem made me retire my Frixion pen to my desk at work. It doesn't self-erase from writing on paper, at least. It's fun to amaze people with it, so it wasn't a total waste of money, LOL.

I use old fashioned tailor's chalk to mark my quilts. Works great, tried and true.

I have a bottle of industrial ink/color remover. The plant where they make the dyes/inks has to have a remover for the workers or they would be multicolored forever. The local dye company gave me some. I've only used it to remove ink accidents from shirt pockets so far. I'm sure it will work for quilt fabric too. The manager told me it was non toxic for skin.

I don't use them because I have read previous posts from quilters who have had an occasional problem.

I've been using Crayola washable markers and so far, no problems.

I have used the Frixion pens and also have found a faint line, but that line washes out. I prefer using the washable markers and have never had any trouble with them washing out, even after ironing them. I think the only color I haven't used is the yellow as it doesn't show as well on anything colored or printed.

I'm sold on the washable kids' markers. They're there to stay and wash right out, no problems at all. I've switched to Pentel gel roller for fabric and/or Permawriter II for writing permanently like for labels sometimes. Frixon pens fade a lot over time, too.