First quilt finished
 

Here's my fist quilt. The front is the fall log cabin and the back log cabin was from a moda scrap bag (Halloween). I attempted to quilt lines from the center (like sunburst or daisy). The lines are very wavy. It was difficult to see my own markings. Chalk disappeared, frixion pen markings were too fine. On the last quarter of the quilt I used Crayola washable markers. That is my best quiting. Thankfully the marker washed out. I'd appreciate any suggestions on marking my lines to quilt.

very pretty
like the colors

Beautiful quilt and your quilting is wonderful!

I don't have any marking pointers, but I do like your quilt.

When quilting straight lines, I use painter's tape as a guide. It stays on while sewing, then easily pulls off without leaving any marks.

Great job, especially since it is your first! Keep up the good work and enjoy!

Good job on your first quilt.

So brave! Your quilting is very nice! I stitched in the ditch almost exclusively for most quilts. I only recently ventured out in the last couple of years. I have 2 widths of painters tape to space lines. Do Not sew on the tape, unless you enjoy frustration. Also, If your machine has a serpentine stitch, it hides less than perfect stitching.

I think it looks great, including the quilting! I agree with aashley333 - you were very brave to venture so far away from stitched lines for a first project. Way to go, you! I'm still mostly a stitch-in-the-ditch girl unless I turn to hand quilting (rare). I am also interested in seeing everyone's marking tips!

Congratulations and Well Done!

I like the blue marking pens that wash away for marking fabric if the fabric is light enough for it to show up- just be sure to spritz with water to erase the mark before ironing, as the heat will set the marks. If you live in an area with low humidity then you can use the pens with purple disappearing ink to mark your fabric, but here in Virginia I find that they tend to disappear before I'm done quilting, do not iron over the purple marks as they will be set by the heat. You can erase them with water just like the blue ones if you don't have time to wait for them to disappear on their own. For Dark fabrics I use either a piece of soap or a wax pencil (Panda pencil is one) that leaves a whitish mark for darker fabrics or blacks. The mark does a good job of staying in place until you're done quilting and then you just iron it away.

Rob