Originally Posted by
sewbizgirl
Cathy, I'm about to quilt my Ringo Lake too. Just got the backing prepped yesterday.
Rob, yes... used the new big Juki to quilt all of those quilts. I just go for it! I know that eventually it will start to look better.
Hey, what did you use to mark your friend's quilt? The best thing I had found was the frixion pen... until I found out the marks come back when the quilt gets cold! So I've been using a Clover white chalk marker. I don't love it. Hard to mark with and the chalk falls off before you get to it. Would love to know if you found something better.
It was a white border, so we used a water-soluble blue pen (I think the one made by Clover). My experience is that they stay put until you spritz them with water, then they go away completely.
For dark fabric I almost always use a sliver of soap-- it stays on longer than chalk markers and is just as visible. I've also tried the sew line white pencil- it seems to stay put fairly well, too.
Have you tried doing any ruler work? I find that If I use a combination of ruler work to divide the quilt, and FMQ in between divisions, I can get away with minimal marking on most pieced quilts. Whole cloth or modern quilts with lots of negative space require more marking.
Rob