yeoldeforest Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I know this has probably been discussed a million times. In fact, if you want to throw me a bone and send me a link, that would be great too! What are the best tools for marking a quilt? I have used the blue pen for marking a wholecloth quilt - so I know I need to rinse. whirlpool the marking pen out which is fine for my own quilt but... My customers do not seem to like the blue pen or they are afraid to really wash/rinse the pen out of the top/batting. The pink pen shows up really well but scares the heck out of me - turns bright pink before disappearing and has the same effect on my customers - they don't like it. The "disappearing" pen disappears too quickly in NC - high humidity...by the time you mark your quilt - the marking is gone. I bought the pounce powder which came with a small stencil but for the life of me can't figure out how to use it - obviously, it's not idiot proof. I have a hand applique butterfly quilt that a customer wants custom quilted - I want to cross-hatch behind each butterfly but I need to be able to mark it to get the lines to look somewhat decent. I doubt the customer will want to wash it. The background is white. Thanks in advance for any advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Since the customers don't like you marking at all...your pretty much stuck with getting really good at Freehand....or maybe your last resort of school chalk....it does work, but like all chalks it bounces off a bit, not at fast as pounce chalk, but it does bounce off, and you still won't be able to premark a whole quilt. I have in the past had a class for my customers to show them how to wash a quilt properly, and the results with using the different markers and what each of them does. Also I have even gone as far as showing them what the ULV lights will do to a quilt that they don't wash correctly and what the blue pens will do if not washed out completely. Good luck with what you decide to do...you may very well come up with something the rest of us haven't thought of yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 JoAnn, Isn't it hard when you have situations like this? I love the new Sewline Pencils but they too require water most of the time to get them out. I find the marks to be the best to be seen, thin and they stay put until you remove them! I always try school chalk first and it works more often than not! You can also consider using a black light and black light powder. It works very well and you can't see it unless they have a black light. It does make it hard to see white thread though. The one tool that I would highly recommend for cross hatching that requires no pre-marking is The Topper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreadWaggle Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Joanne, Did you rough up your pounce pad? I had to really use my fingernails and rough it up to get the pounce to flow. Also you can use a foam paintbrush to apply the pounce powder. Which I like a little better as I can really control where the powder is being placed. I also love the new Sewline pencils. On Kim Brunner's DVD she said that she mixes black light powder with pounce to make the black light powder last longer. I have not tried this yet as my experience with pounce is with my DSM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Thanks! I've thought about the black light powder and the chalk pencils. I do have the regular chalk too. This is going to be one of those "fun" quilts. I'm going to give the pounce pad another try and see if roughing it up will work. The paint brush is a good idea too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtreusch Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Hi Joanne. I use the pounce pad with black light powder mixed with miracle chalk. I also use school chalk quite a bit. I don't have problems with either bouncing off. I use my air compressor to remove the chalk when I am done. Have you thought about getting a good crosshatch ruler? I use them quite a bit and they don't require marking. The ones that I have are from Off the Edgequilting. Debbi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I use the blacklight pencil and love them. And like Heidi said, unless they are still living in the 60's and use a blacklight for their posters they are not going to see the markings. Of course I love my CL for crosshatching....can't do without it...and don't need the chalk if you have the CL - yippee!!! Don't have the Topper so I can't speak for that tool, but I know others like it when used with templates from CL or the other company sorry....I forget the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraC Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I like the Cl crosshatching method, but if you don't have this.... If you have the Hartley base expander and the 2 rulers that came with it, run a piece of masking tape along the back of the ruler ~ spaced at how wide you want your lines to be. Quilt a line then hold the ruler so that the edge of the tape is on the previous quilting line. You know what, this is so hard to explain in words!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I hate the pounce pad. Myrna showed us how to use the chalk with a foam paint brush. I threw my pounce pad out the window and use the foam brushes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennan100 Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Joanne, I heard somewhere that you are supposed to "prime" the Pounce Pad. I think it's tapping it firmly on a flat surface to get the powder worked down into the pad. Did you do that? I know many use the foam paint brush, Marilyn badger demo'd it on Fons & Porter once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I'm with Connie! I only use the foam brush, get the powder where I want it and use a whole lot less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I like the Clover chalk pencils. They have the powder in them with a little wheel that works great to mark crosshatching. Jeanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted December 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Hhmmm - I like the idea of the tape on the ruler - that might work. I'm fairly decent at using the Hartley rulers so that sounds like a good plan. I fought with the pounce pad for about 2 to 3 hours when I first got it. I remember I spent enough money on it to at least struggle with it for awhile. I don't usually give up easily when I've shelled out money. I'm pretty sure after playing with it for two hours, I was "tapping" the heck out of it. I might have thrown it a wall or two too . Maybe I'll take Connie's suggestion, open the window, aim and throw! Maybe I'll get it out again and obsess some more. I like the foam brush idea very much. Thanks for all of the ideas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 For info, the pounce pad doesn't even make a good dog toy. Let me say, it was gone in an instant when my Bull Terrier (Bunny) found it before I picked it up!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennan100 Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Joanne, You could always send it to Mary Beth and let her slap it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 Joanne, I've used the blue pen (marked just lightly enough to see what I need) and then I used a damp washcloth or sponge to gently rub across the area when I was done. It came right out. No need to toss the quilt in the washing machine to get rid of the blue marks. You can get it out with a damp cloth. If you mark lightly it won't seep into the batting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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