I’m horrible at free-motion quilting. Actually, I’m; let’s not lie. I’ve been piecing quilt tops fortunately since 1999, and each time I attempt my hand at free-motion quilting one of many tops, the outcomes are cringe-worthy. However that is the 12 months I develop my free-motion mastery! I’m going to observe all types of motifs (thanks, Free-Movement Weekly!), I’m going to make a design plan for my accomplished tops, and I’m going to seek out the basting strategies, threads, battings, material marking instruments, and machine that work for me.

And on this video, I’m testing a sequence of quilt marking instruments. A few of these instruments are pretty widespread and you’ll acknowledge from the native quilt retailer, just like the chalk marker (mine is from Bohin) or ceramic lead marker (this one’s from Sewline). Others are a bit… odd. In one in every of our interactive on-line workshops — Longarm Fundamentals with Angela Huffman, I imagine — a pupil talked about that her favourite marking software is watercolor pencils from the artwork retailer. (Say what…?) Or how about white eyeliner? Or Crayola’s line of washable markers?

Right here’s the checklist of instruments I made a decision to check:

Will these marks wash out? Will they even be seen? What works finest on darkish material and lightweight? I dropped by the studio on a snowy January day, arrange a machine, and went for it! Test it out!

Please ignore the wobbles and normal sloppiness — I used to be stitching at a clumsy angle for the digital camera… On a machine I used to be unfamiliar with… Carrying snow boots… And didn’t I point out that I’m horrible — excuse me, bettering at this?

I took my sloppy masterpiece residence that night, tossed it within the wash, and listed here are the outcomes! The one mark that didn’t utterly wash out was, surprisingly, the white eyeliner! A number of the waxy flakes caught quick, however they’ll be gone with the subsequent load of laundry.

And to check the heat-away pen — I’ve heard the marks come again with chilly — I threw the stitched pattern within the freezer. (The boyfriend was very confused when he opened the freezer searching for ice cubes.) I did NOT have the marks come again, maybe as a result of I washed it, however I’d nonetheless suggest warning when utilizing this software to mark quilt motifs.

Presumably my least favourite marker was the Hera marker. It seems to work finest together with a ruler for marking straight-line quilting, which limits its usefulness for marking. That exact software additionally serves nicely to press seams open and has a degree turner within the different finish, so it’s nonetheless useful.

Do you might have any most well-liked material marking instruments that I didn’t check? Tell us within the feedback!

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