My return to the world of quilting after taking a 20 year "sabbatical" has not been going smoothly. I broke my machine trying to assemble a quillow. Next I pieced a pretty (IMHO) wall hanging and had endless troubles trying to use fusible batting. After I managed to peel off the puckered batting, I discovered all my stenciled lines and designs had disappeared. I used a purple water erasable marker from Clover. I am a hand quilter and it takes me a while to finish a project. I need ideas for better marking tools. TIA

Sorry, I am one of the get it done in a hurry machine quilters. I am sure there are lots of things out there, but for now I am tickled with a chalk that I just found that disappears after the first pass of the machine. LOL it sure does take all of us to make the world go round.

I really like the Sewline pencil. http://www.sewline-product.com/Sewline_Fabric_Pencil

Are you sure it's a water erase? Most of the time the purple ones are air erase (which happens rather quickly) and the blue are water erase. Which ever one you decide to use make sure the marks are completely gone before pressing. Heat will set them and they will never come out. Ask me how I know.....

Vinegar is supposed to take those marks out, according to a tip in a quilting magazine. Worth a try.

Vinegar is supposed to take those marks out, according to a tip in a quilting magazine. Worth a try.[/quote]

Thanks, I'll give it a try :thumbup:

I was at Joann's today and got a set of markers, one is blue and the other one is white. They are water erase, and I found them by the regular sewing items, not the quilting ones. I have used the blue ones before and like the way they work. I'm sure I'll like the white one to use on dark fabrics that the blue one won't show up on. I think they were Clover brand.

My favourites are watercolor pencils. They rub off after a while and all remaining lines go with the first the time the quilt is washed. I always look for a color that fits the fabric, a few shades darker or lighter.
For light fabrics (especially solids) I use the method of needle marking, therefore I don't have to remove any marking lines.

Had never thought of watercolour pencils...hmm, beats messing about with chalk (the air/water erasable pens scare me!)

You can find them in shops for artist supplies. Normally they are used by painters who do watercolor paintings. They don't contain wax like the regular color pencils and they are water soluble.
The air/water erasable pens also scare me! A friend of mine used the blue one a lot and one day she left her marked quilt in the sun for just half an hour - she wasn't able to remove the marks anymore.