There are many ways to mark quilting lines, etc. on our quilts. The problem is ease of removal. I decided to do a post about this topic when a friend of mine recently had an issue with a method of marking.
I know many quilters who like to use the Frixion™ pens to mark their quilts because the lines disappear with heat. Donna did that on her ThreadBender’s Achromatic challenge quilt, and ironed the marks away upon completion. When she brought her quilt for the “big reveal” at our February meeting she was shocked to discover that the markings on her quilt, which she’d left in the car on a cold winter’s day, had returned!
I took all the quilts home to photograph them after our meeting, and she asked me to please iron the marks away before photographing it. I did ~ and it worked great. Here’s her beautiful quilt.
Afterwards I decided to do a little test of my own. I placed her quilt outside in the cold for half an hour. And… the marks returned once again.
Fortunately they did iron off the second time too. I did an internet search and found a great article on this topic. Click here to read it. Thanks Donna, for letting me share your quilt’s story.
So, do you have a favorite marking tool? The one I use the most often, and share in my classes, is the very inexpensive “sliver of soap”.
It shows up on most fabrics, and always comes off easily with a little water. I simply spritz it with a spray bottle, or wet a small piece of muslin and rub gently. We save hotel soaps (they’re going to throw them out anyways), and use them instead of liquid soap so that I have slivers to use on my quilts and in my classes.
If the area to be marked is white or very light I will use a fabric marker. I made a quilt many years ago and marked the quilting design using a blue washout marker. The marks disappeared with just a spritz of water. It looked like they were gone but after hanging it for a period of time I was shocked to discover the color of the fabric behind the marks had faded from blue to light gray. I no longer have the quilt, but trust me – I haven’t done that again. I still use the blue marker occasionally, but I soak the entire quilt to remove the marker chemicals completely.
I must admit I like Crayola washable markers, but I always test first on the fabrics used in the quilt to be sure they will come out, and I completely soak the marks out after the quilting is done.
Whatever you use, mark lightly ~ only as heavy as you need to see it ~ so that the marks are easier to remove.
I’d love your feedback! Please comment with any recommendations you’d like to share.
Elrid Johnson says
Good to be reminded about using slivers of soap. I have an abundant collection of those. My favorite is the Clover white marker on dark fabric. So far no problems.
Susan Schlobohm says
Great information – Thanks Chris!
judy raddatz says
Always interesting. Thanks
Rita Subrt says
Chris, I have used General’s chalk pencils to mark on my quilts. I am partial to the light gray and white. They are available at art supply stores. You can remove the marks by brushing with a toothbrush or dry washcloth..
clkquilt says
I don’t think I’ve tried those. I may need to try the gray one on white. Thanks for the recommendation.
Lynn Stephens says
I have used a variety of markers and have been very discouraged with a couple, most notably the clover yellow chalk marker. It did not brush off as advertised and instead set in. One suggestion about any markers is to be sure not to iron the marks even if manufacturer says ok like pounce pads.
Sandra Kohls says
How do you “sharpen” the edges of your soaps to keep your marking lines narrow?
Gail says
I like to use the pounce iron-off chalk. If I’m working on a light colored fabric, I add cinnamon to the chalk so it shows up. And fortunately, I’ve never had a problem with it not ironing off – in fact, most of the time I just take a never-used-for-painting paint brush and brush the chalk off.
clkquilt says
I’d never heard of using cinnamon. I’ll have to give it a try.