Marking quilts frustration
 

I really want to do some free motion quilting of an actual design on my quilts on my domestic but so far trying to figure out how to mark the design on the quilts has been an act of futility.

I really like the blue markers that go away with water. But I cannot see the marks on the dark fabrics and the "white" water soluble ones don't work. There is no visible mark and I've tried three dritz ones and none of them worked. They almost seem dried out. So I can mark the light fabrics in the quilt but nothing for the dark fabrics.

So, I got the pounce pad and a couple of the full line stencils. I got pink and white. Well, that was a complete waste of money. Yeah, after beating the poor pounce pads within an inch of their lives to get the chalk flowing, the result is a blurred mess that wipes away with barely a touch. It definitely works better when I do it on a hard surface but I have to wipe the pad across the stencil 10 times to get anything to show and the act of 10 wipes makes it a blurred mess and not crisp at all. If I do manage to get the whole quilt marked it will all be gone when I baste it.

I could try it after basting it, but on the softer surface, the pounce pad is worse than useless.

I've tried the sewline fabric pencil and I have the same problem of the line barely showing at all and to get a line that shows, I have to press hard enough to break the led or go over and over and over and over the same inch. That is going to drive me to drink to do on a whole quilt.

Is there any product out there that actually works?
What am I doing wrong?

I'm no help just going through the same thing right now. Hope you get some ideas that will help us both! I have found out from past experience with chalk - mark one motif at a time then quilt it right away otherwise the marks start rubbing off. (it was just a simple star outline for a QOV - nothing fancy - with a template and chalk, it worked out)

I have read posts that say white chalk works pretty well. It's kids' chalk, and you can sharpen the point with a pencil sharpener. Haven't tried it myself, though.

Beware of the blue markers -- make sure you rinse out *thoroughly* with water (not just misting). I unpacked a white muslin top I had marked with the blue pen before quilting and there are very weird brown dots in the quilting lines. I obviously thought I had rinsed it well, but clearly I had not rinsed it evenly. Parts of the top have no markings; other parts have brown dots. There is no rhyme or reason I can see to the dots, other than being associated with the quilting lines, so I assume I was not as thorough as I thought when I rinsed.

Edit: I have used white soap slivers to mark dark fabrics. The soap has to be old and dried out. Not sure how well they would work with a stencil, though. My biggest problem is that the edge of the soap would get flattened pretty fast, so my lines often ended up thick.

There is a paper that you can buy called Golden something, I think. I have some and will try to find it and give you the correct name. Any way, you can trace your pattern on to the paper, pin the paper to your fabric and just sew through it. It is kind of light weight so doesn't become embedded in your quilt. Or if you have a repeating pattern that you want to use in a large area, say in the outer border, you can trace on one piece of paper, then cut multiple sheets of paper, stack them together and sew over the design without thread in your needle, then attach to your quilt where you want the design and follow the holes punched in the paper. Hope this makes sense. I had never had much luck with marking pens, etc. either, but this system worked for me. Although, now I mainly do FMQ without a pattern. Sometimes, following a design in the fabric works well.

Boy, do I feel your pain! I've had the same experience as you. Have you tried Golden Threads paper? I've had some success with that, although it's a little tedious picking out the paper if the design is fairly intricate. Most tissue paper would work the same as the Golden Threads pap.

Great minds think alike, Suern! LOL

If you are not opposed to washing the quilt when done, you might want to try Sticky Fabri-Solvy. It comes in printable sheets or rolls that you can draw a design on. Once you draw or print the design, you peel the backing and it sticks to the quilt. It is semi-opaque, so you can see it on dark fabrics. I used the sheets and cut off any extra, which i used for smaller bits that I drew by hand (or you could put a design under it and trace before applying). You quilt thru it, it washes out when you are done. Shop around because it can be expensive. I've gotten deals on ebay, so you could check there. I prefer it to the Golden Threads paper. The paper keeps tearing before I can get my design done, and it gets very frustrating for me.

Actually, I have tried Golden Threads and it worked fantastic for an easy design. But I don't see how it will work for a more detailed design. But that might be my best option. The Golden Threads worked great! I was just hoping to find a direct marking option as it seemed like it would be simpler with quilting on a domestic.

I'm beginning to think that a more complicated design is just not an option on a domestic sewing machine. But even if you go to a long-arm, there has to be a way that experienced quilters are marking their quilts.

I find the white Sewline works better if you wet the tip.

i use a sliver of bar soap to mark dark fabrics... it stays quite a while