I, too, forgot about cutting the border and binding fabric off the piece that was going to be a wall hanging for my daughter's wedding. I didn't discover my mistake until after the wedding! Therefore, I cut out the signatures, etc, used lightweight fusible and fused it to a different piece of fabric prior to quilting. Since it was the backing, still turned out ok.

My experience has been that Sharpies will and do bleed and fade. Look for Pigma pens. They are archival, non acid permanent markers that are always suggested by the pros.

Lightly mark your 1/4" seam allowance on the fabric so people don't write into the seam.

Iron freezer paper to the back of the fabric first , then cut the fabric and add the seam lines.

peace

I did this for neice's wedding quilt. Used the pigma pens and backed the squares with freezer paper. But I used a Manila file folder, cut a hole the size of the finished blocks, marked the inside with pieces of masking tape the size of unfinished blocks. Slip the block into the folder, close it, hand to guest to sign. They have a visual that they will understand and no over lap to worry about. We used the blocks instead of a guest book, so had two folders going at the same time. Worked pretty slick.

Also a Pigma pen .05 is easier to use than the narrower .01.

My favourite is the .08 and a little harder to find in shops. I can actually "write" with the .08 and find the others kind of scratchy.

I did the same thing. My DIL was due Feb 2014 but she had a shower in Nov in OH where we used to live. I ironed freezer paper to the back of muslin and also drew a square on the back of the freezer paper. I wasn't at that particular shower so couldn't supervise those squares! Some ladies and children did write clear to the edge of the muslin. ho hum. In a few cases I just redid them and no one was the wiser. Have fun with your project. And I did use the pigma pens....they're great.

Billi is right---Sharpies (black) fade quickly, plus some colors (as in turquoise) just plain wash out. Sob, sob, ask me how I know. I've had good luck with the Micron Pigma Pens, as Billi said, and with Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric. I did extensive testing on a scrap with both, and neither faded after repeated washing---once with OxyClean. Save yourself some grief---don't rely on Sharpies!!!

good idea, citruscountyq: I think a template is a great solution.

I would steer away from sharpie markers even though they might say permanent. I would stick with the Pigma Micron pens. I was trying to make a label for DGD's quilt using the Sharpie markers and was not pleased, as they bled onto the muslin fabric I was intending to use. On the other hand, I have quilts with labels that were made in the early 1900's that are still legible after repeated washings. That's been my experience at least. One word of advice, regardless of which pen you decide on, I would iron a piece of freezer paper, slightly smaller than the charm square which would help the writing on the charm square.

Definitely use micron pen .05. Back the fabric with freezer paper before you cut it in the preferred size. If marking seam lines, use a fineline washable marker. I used 2 1/1x 4 1/2 strips. If I did it again, I would make the strips larger.