Question for long arm quilters about patterns
 

I do simple things on my long arm, but have one I would like to do something a little more special. Is there a way to copy a design on paper of some kind, attach to area on quilt and then stitch thru this paper? Or whatever I need to use? Some kind of chalk may be used, but have heard it is sometimes difficult to get off and I don’t want to wash this quilt. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

I'm also leery of marking... There's a paper called "Golden Threads" that's made specifically for this purpose, draw on it & rip it off. What I use is regular gift wrap tissue. I don't do detailed quilting thru it. I draw the bones of the design with regular pencil, quilt that, remove the paper then do the fill. I've also heard of folks using wash away stabilizer, which is actually for machine embroidery, but this can be pricey & you still have to be careful about your marking utensil.

This I what I use for borders. Seems like I paid less...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tissue-Pape...ty!48003!US!-1

Some people use Press N Seal for this purpose. Be sure you use a short stitch length to make it easier to remove.

I tried Press N Seal when I had my Voyager - I had the worst time removing it. I used a sharpie on the press n Seal for the pattern and then when I pulled it off it showed under the stitches - it took me forever to remove it. Maybe something other than a sharpie would work better!!

One way to do it (what I do) is to mark your design with a thin permanent sharpie on Miracle Film. It's a heat-away stabilizer made by Marathon. You have to allow the sharpie to dry overnight (or cheat and dry it well with a hairdryer on low heat---it is a heat-away stabilizer, remember) so the machine needle doesn't transfer the permanent black ink through to the quilt top. I have tried Golden Threads paper and Press N Seal, neither of which are as easy to remove as the Miracle Film. It's a clear/slightly frosted plastic with perforations all over, which make it tear off very easily. It's supposed to be removed by hovering a hot iron above it, making the plastic melt a bit into little plastic balls which are brushed off. But it tears off so easily I've never had to use heat. I love the stuff! Not affiliated, just a very happy customer. I usually afix Miracle Film in place with a teensy spray of temporary basting spray.
I also use pounce powder (white) with stencils, a chalk wheel (white) for freehand or ruler marking, a chalk pencil (Roxannes white and silver) for freehand or ruler marking. Sometimes when I want to use a stencil on white fabric, I use black light powder in a pounce pad. It's a white powder that glows fluorescent green under a black light, so it shows up on white fabric only when the black light is on. I mix in some ordinary white pounce powder with the black light powder to stretch it. Still works fine. Then there's also the black light chalk pencil. You can use chalk without washing the quilt afterwards. Usually it's mostly gone from handling when you're finished with the quilt, but if there's still some there, you can remove it with a vacuum, or by brushing over it with a dampened wash cloth.

Another way to do this is draw pattern on freeze paper, press it a bit and sew around the shape, peel off, reuse.

I have some Golden Threads paper, didn’t know why I had it. I’ll probably give that a try. Many other good suggestions too. Thanks

I do not recommend using Press N' Seal! I had the same problem as Betty--and didn't even use the sharpie but an washable Crayola marker! And you sure can't do much dense quilting on it or you can't get the dang stuff out.

I use white chalk pencil, pounce chalk powder with stencils, sometimes the blue line marker (water soluble). Also, if you have a laser light on your LA machine, you can usually move it to the front and using a board (or large cookie sheet, etc--I have a plastic shelf I got bought from DeLoa Jones) on the quilt with the stencil or picture laying on it, trace with your laser. It's a little tricky to get placed just right, but well worth it.

JustabitCrazy--where do you purchase your black light chalk/pen?

Some use the pads from the Dollar Store that have the newsprint weight paper that is used for paper piecing. It's about 8 x 12 or bigger. You would have to tape the sheets together. It is a one time use product.

I like the idea of using freezer paper. You could cut out your designs, stitch right along the edge of the paper and just move it to the next area. I would do it for the whole width of the fabric, which is pretty simple since it comes in a roll. What kind of pattern are you doing?

quiltingshorttimer---my blacklight powder came with my used longarm machine purchase, but I've seen it online somewhere. The blacklight chalk pencil I bought from a vendor at a major quilt show, and I'm sorry I can't remember who that was (or even what show it was---several years ago). I'm sure you can find them with a google search. My Gammill has a thin fluorescent (12"?) bulb in the front light, easy to swap out for the same size blacklight fluorescent bulb, which is available at my local Lowe's.