Railroadersbrat

I think as long as the heat erasable pens are designed for fabric, the marks won't come back - at least none of mine ever did and I tested them to be sure. And they are the cheap, cheap versions.

The horror stories I've heard, however, are from the Frixion pens, because they were not originally designed for fabric, but paper. I did test those out and to my horror, the marks did come back, so I don't bring a Frixion pen near my work.

My thing is, unless it specifically states that it's designed for fabric, I'll have no issues using them. But, if they were designed for something else, like paper, you wouldn't be able to pay me enough to take that chance. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

pennyhal2

I mostly do straight line quilting. I get masking tape the size of the width I want, and stitch along the sides of the tape. I remove and use the tape over until it can no longer stay on the fabric. I have to be careful not to stitch on the tape as it can make the needle gummy. If that happens, I just stop and "de glue" what is stuck on the needle. If quilting curves, I use one of those marker pencils that you can just brush off the marks on the fabric.

feline fanatic

I mark, probably a lot more than most. However most of my quilting is full on custom, if I am doing an all over, I usually opt for using a pantograph. For some designs I can get away with just marking the "bones". Like a feather I can just mark the spine and maybe a few registration marks for how far out I want my feather plume to go, this is especially true if I do switch back feathers that curl back on themselves. Almost all of my border motifs depend on symmetry (evenly spaced motifs along the border) so I will definitely mark out my spacing for those before loading. If I need to do a cross hatch that exceeds my throat space, I definitely mark before loading to ensure my cross hatch stays straight throughout the whole quilt. Some stuff I mark as I go and other stuff I do all the marking before loading. If I need to replicate the same motif throughout the quilt, I also mark that either before loading or as I go. I test my marking tools every single time with the exception of plain white chalk as that has always brushed out for me with no issues. But aside from chalk, I test the actual tool I use for marking on the actual fabrics in the quilt. This cannot be stressed enough! I have had tools that worked great on one fabric not come out of another. My friend had a blue water soluble react with a hand dye and leave a ghost mark. My tools of choice for marking are blue water soluble markers specifically made for this purpose. I prefer Leonis brand or Adger brand. Both of these brands last MUCH longer than the Mark-b-gone but I will also use those in a pinch. I have had great success with crayola ultra washable markers but they don't touch anything until I have tested them on the actual fabric in the quilt. If I don't have a scrap, I test in the seam allowance but I almost always have a scrap. For dark fabrics, plain white chalk or white ceramic lead pencil. I have used artist quality chalk pencils as well and have been especially pleased with those. I will use a pounce pad and stencils with the regular pounce chalk, I have never used the ultimate pounce that requires heat or washing to come out. I have used both white and blue regular pounce but I never use the blue full strength, I always dilute it with the white. Again, TEST. I avoid Frixion and all heat erasable pens. I will only use these for marking a seam line, never on a quilt top. Too many horror stories about marks coming back if the quilt is exposed to cold (like in a car trunk travelling some place cold or shipped via air freight). They are also known to leave ghost marks on some fabrics. I won't use them unless whatever mark I make is hidden in the seam allowance.