I have also used parchment paper (like you use for baking). It tears away easily and is a little sturdier than tissue paper yet you can still see through it to trace your pattern. I found that if I had to wrestle my quilt around very much in the machine the tissue paper ripped easily. I do sections at a time.
Originally Posted by
Tartan
If you are machine quilting, you could make tissue paper patterns to stitch through. (There is a product called Golden Thread paper that you can stitch through also.) With tissue paper, cut several squares the size of your block, draw the pattern on one square, stack up your squares and pin the corners, stitch over the drawn pattern with the machine needle without thread, take the pins out of the squares and you will have several copies to pin on the sandwich and stitch the pattern. Carefully tear away the tissue when finished.