Transferring quilting designs to blocks for FMQ
 

Hi,

I'm new to quilting but not to sewing. I've chosen to do a Tennessee Waltz pattern that will have 9" snowball blocks, and will want to quilt a lovely pattern in each one. Do I need to purchase a plastic stencil or can I use another method to transfer guidelines? (I am making a practice book of FMQ designs, but will still want to mark the actual blocks...) TIA

There are numerous methods to put designs on the quilt top.
1.Golden thread paper that you draw a design on and stitch through it on the sandwich.
2.Tissue paper that you draw a design on and pin to the sandwich to stitch through (or staple several squares together and stitch the design with an unthreaded needle to make several copies)
3.Buy a stencil and use a pounce and powder to mark the sandwich.
4.Trace your design on Glad Press and Seal with a sharpie and stitch through it. ( make sure the sharpie is dry before using or colour can get on the quilt.)
5.Draw the design on with .....Crayola washable markers, air or water temporary fabric markers, Frixion pens that the lines erase with the iron(sometimes bleaches dark fabric) WITH ANY MARKING METHOD-TEST FIRST ON SCRAPS BEFORE MARKING YOUR TOP.
6.My favourite for medium to dark fabric, WHITE chalkboard chalk that can be remove with a damp cloth. I
use a makeup sharpener to get a nice point. [ATTACH=CONFIG]506763[/ATTACH]

Great answer Tartan, comprehensive list of options!

Thanks for a great list!

I like blue water-erase pens for light cloth the best; just make sure you rinse it thoroughly before ironing or you can "set" the marks.

Anything that needs to tolerate heat, I like good old-fashioned tailor's chalk.

Similar to several ideas above; use water-soluble stabilizer to draw on and stitch through; rinses away easily and some of it is even self-stick. (Careful with Glad press & seal, if you're back stitching or travel stitching a lot you can trap bits of plastic between seams; it's best for open designs where you can pull the plastic from both sides of the seam.)

Other options:

Make a template of freezer paper and iron on and stitch around it (only works for outline designs)

Transfer design on to quilt using transfer paper (works like old fashioned carbon paper), like Saral or Transdoodle. Both products come in a graphite color for light fabrics and white for dark fabrics. Just make sure it is wax free transfer paper. Whatever you do... DON'T use old fashioned carbon paper!! Can be done before or after sandwiching or as you go.

Make a light table. Google how to make a light table, there are many methods. The least expensive is to put a piece of plexiglass between two chairs with a lamp underneath the plexi. Then trace design directly onto fabric using water soluble marker, crayola washable marker, chalk, Ceramic pencil, sliver of soap or whatever tool you like best AND that you have tested on the fabric to ensure it comes out. Needs to be done BEFORE sandwiching.

Thank you Tartan for those answers. That really helps me and gets my brain thinking I can do a quilt with a pretty design.

Word of warning/advice to usint the Stretch and Seal. When I first heard of this I thought I had found the ultimate answer. Clear, stays in place, cheap. Drew design on the S&S with permanent Sharpie, applied it to the quilt top and stitched. All was well UNTIL I started to remove it. It is very difficult to get it out of small areas and the black ink on the plastic wrap was still there, showing up with the stitching. It didn't come off onto the fabric but the plastic bits were under the thread. ARRRRGGGHHH. If I tried it again, I would draw on it with Frixion pens and possibly not use anything very intricate. Know that bits will remain for some time. Anyone with any suggestions to success with this - would love to hear from you.

Depends on the color of the fabric and what will work best on it. I have hundreds of stencils that I have collected over the decade. I have them sorted by size.

I too tried the press n seal stuff with horrid results. I've read about, but not tried, using a thin Solvy instead. The Solvy can at least be washed out. Just remember to mark your Solvy over paper and be sure it is dry before applying to quilt as the marker will definitely bleed through. Now that I think of it I'm going to try it if only on a sample!