What do you use to mark your quilting pattern?
 

Learning to free motion but realize I would do a better job if I drew a design and sewed over it. So ? is: what pen/marker should I buy? Of course marks have to wash out.

My favourite quilt marking tool is white chalk. I use a make up sharpener to get a nice point. Do not use coloured chalk and test any marking method on scraps before using it on a quilt.[ATTACH=CONFIG]526563[/ATTACH]

Frixion pen, crayola washable markers, pounce pad. It depends on the quilt.

Pounce, sewline or clover chalk pencils. I have used air erasable one but it has to be quilted right away

I know you think you need to mark your quilt, but consider trying to do improv/ freehand. It saves so much time, your success is from making it look nice, not in following the lines. And it's just more fun. If you can doodle, you can do freehand FMQ. I occasionally will mark a dot as a landmark x number of inches, to keep a pattern going evenly, but for the most part, my piecing is something of a grid to work off of, and then it's just play.

It is easier to mark quilt before sandwiching it. I use frixion pens which iron out it as been noted on some dark colours it can leave a light stain. Air erasable disappear too quick. Water erasable mean you have to dampen cloth and if you go mad with water it can cause bleeds. I personally dislike chalk because it is a dust which with me rubs off and I get dust everywhere.
Try them all and use the one that suites you.

I audition designs using sliced apart sandwich bags & a regular marker.

I mark my quilt with Crayola Ultra Clean markers. At some point I hope to get good enough at FMQ not to need to mark but for now I am focusing on training myself to learn good habits: consistent spacing, continuous line, consistent sizing, filling the entire space. By marking my quilt, I am able to focus all my active concentration on properly formed stitches.

I make sure to pick a color that is very different from the quilt top/thread color (those two nearly match for me since I want to hide my quilting). For example, on a cream/pastel quilt top with a pastel variegated thread, I would use a red or purple marker because they will show up the best against the background and my stitches will be very visible against the marked line. The spaces where I have small red squares (I have 4), I will use a blue marker to mark my line so it shows up. I can switch colors as desired since they all wash out when I'm done (I soak my quilt in the tub for 15 minutes with a Shout Color Catcher; drain the water; re-run the water with a tiny amount of Tide Free & hand agitate; rinse & then transfer to my washing machine to wash on the gentlest cycle; once I've verified there are no stray marks, I transfer to the dryer & dry on low).

Hope that helps! I know the ideal is to be able to FMQ with no drawn lines, but I know personally all that did was make me frustrated as my lines were all different sizes with varied spacing. I was spending more than half my time with the seam ripper. Now my motto is to mark it, quilt it & enjoy it! I only rip out a line of quilting if the stitches don't form, are pinpoint tiny, or are very unbalanced. Other than maybe twice over the entire quilt, I leave the seam ripper in the drawer where it belongs.

Good luck & have fun!!!

TU to everyone who responded. Just what I needed. Bree, I so agree with what you suggested. Off to Walmart!!

If it is white fabric, I use a purple or blue be gone. On darker fabric, I use the WHITE Clover powdered chalk wheel. I also prefer to know where I am going when I do FMQ.

Maniac I've never heard of a chalk wheel, how do you use it?

I usually mark dark fabric with a Clover white pen that irons out like the Frixion pens (which I also use). But sometimes I use a whole different thing...Glad Press-n-Seal. Sounds odd I know but it works great. Just press it on, draw your line, sew and it peels right off without leaving any marks or residue. When I use this I don't have to worry about erasing anything. It's useful in some situations.

I use the Crayola markers on most of my quilts, and it works well. IMHO it is the best way to go.

On my last quilt I used the chalkwheel to mark as I was doing grid work, but noticed that my walking foot got very dirty with the dust. Made me wonder if the dust was getting into the foot and if there was any way to blow the dust out. Or does it matter? Hope it didn't mess up the walking foot

quiltingbuddy: I tried the Glad wrap but had marker problems. What kind of marker do you use? I used the washable markers and they beaded. The permanent marker marked but left a few marks after it was stitched into the fabric. I put the wrap on the design, marked it, then placed on quilt. It was dry by then, and I did smooth the wrap onto the fabric without marks on my hands afterwards. Thinking maybe the heat from the needle??

I just bought a package of 3 Frixion pens for $2.50. $4 (Office Depot) and I had a $1.50 coupon, but afraid to use directly on a quilt as the line comes back depending on temp. Don't want to freak someone out that gets one as a gift. Many on this board swear by them. There are other uses for them which is why I bought them, and the price. But I plan on testing them on some fabric.

The best thing to do is pick something and test on sample fabric. See what works best for you.

Pounce marking pen or pad or Frixion pens. Both iron off. Crayola Ultra Clean Washable markers are good if you plan on washing the quilt when finished. Frixion may show up in freezing temps if the quilt isn't washed first but I don't care enough about that to not use them.

I get the felt tipped Frixion pens from Amazon (the multi-color 12 pack in Japanese lettering). They are easy to use on quilt after its sandwiched . . .but if using before, doesn't create a drag on fabric the way the ball pont Frixions do. Then, when done, simply iron it off. It doesn't return when exposed to cold as long as it's put thru the wash.

On darks, I use the white chalk loaded in a Pounce.

I also use the Crayola markers and Golden Threads Quilting paper (available 12" & 18").

Golden threads quilting paper. Never heard of this. Guess I'll have to look it up.

yngldy: I did use a permanent marker but it probably would have been a Pigma pen. They mark very lightly and I've never had a problem with the markers leaving ink behind. Hmmn, good to know (and sorry this happened to you - that's a big bummer!).

If you're afraid of marks becoming permanent, why not draw on a piece of paper and sew through it like paper piecing? That's what I do if I want a design I'm not sure I can make as neatly as I picture it! When you're done, just peel the paper away and no marks remain. :-)

I am amazed at the variety here.