I have gotten tired of using those pencils for marking my quilts because they cost so much and do not last long enough. The other day I ran into a BOX of chalk from when my dad was working at a school and they tossed it out because it was "dustfree" and did not work good on the boards. I sharpened one end and WOW, it works great!!!! No more marking pencils for me!!!!

I have used chalk to mark things several times. I like it but it can sometimes get brushed off.

chalk is all I use now.

I like chalk for my smaller projects but rarely use it on larger ones because of how easily it can brush off. I still use the water soluble pens for my larger quilts. To make them last longer (since it's air that dries them out so fast) I place them in ziploc baggies between uses. That really helps to extend the life them.

Thank you for the advice on putting the pens in a ziploc bag. I will do that if I ever get pens again.

I use white chalk too. I did buy a box of colored chalk because sometimes I'm marking on white fabric. I didn't read the back of the box and it says it may stain fabric. I haven't used it yet because of the warning. Has anyone used the colored chalk and had it stain your fabric?

I use tailor's chalk. Looks like giant guitar picks. Love it.

On my Broncos king quilt I used many different types of things to mark my stencils. The marking pens that are water soluble I might have gotten one block marked before the pen ran out. (this was a large block with intricate stenciling). First I used a pencil and for those of you that have been quilting for awhile know that is a no-no. I have learned that the hard way. After the pen, I started using those really small colored chalk. I kept having to sharpening them but they worked great for me. I won't use any thing else now that I found this.

Dingle, yes. I have used the colored chalk and I took a damp rag and it came off really easy.

I guess I should elaborate on my previous answer. The colored chalk that I use is the really small chalk that comes in a black box and has what I would call a "pen" that you load the chalk into. It reminds me of the pencils that you put the lead into. I can't remember the name of this because I got rid of the cardboard it was attached to. The "pen" is red with a yellow button on the end. The box has layer of white chalk then a small baggie that has the colored chalk in. You do have to use a damp cloth to get it off but I used this (even the dark blue color) on white cloth. It came off and you didn't even see that I had used anything for marking.

what kind of markers would you use on light fabric? Chalk doesnt always show up on those.