Sunday 21 April 2013

Hand Quilting - Wipe Off Fabric Marker

I have been enjoying doing my Nearly Insane Quilt blocks far too much lately, and felt that I needed to spend some time on hand quilting my red and white pinwheel quilt.  I have got a self-imposed deadline for completing it, which is approaching fast.
Having completed the outlining, I am now quilting the motif in the centre of each square.  I designed the motif myself and made a template out of some heavy plastic to draw around, several months ago. For the first one I had used a watercolour pencil, but having watched a video tutorial by Judi Madsen at Green Fairy Quilts, I thought I would try a Sew Easy Wipe Off Fine Line Fabric Marker to mark the quilting pattern.

Sew Easy Wipe Off Fabric Marker Pen
Sew Easy Wipe Off Fabric Marker Pen
The idea of drawing in pen on my nice, white quilt, filled me with apprehension, so I have documented it, mainly to remind myself how it went for my own future reference.  Drawing the pattern on was easy enough, as the tip of the pen is really fine - good accuracy. I can never guarantee how long a hand quilting project will take, it maybe years, so I am only doing one motif at a time, as I am not sure how long the pen will last.
Motif marked onto quilt with Fabric Marker Pen
Motif marked onto quilt with Fabric Marker Pen
Once I had hand quilted the motif, I dampened a microfibre cloth, and wiped the marks away.  As you can see below, yes, it really did wipe the blue pen marks away! Just like magic!

Wiping off Fabric Marker Pen, with a microfibre cloth
Wiping off Fabric Marker Pen, with a microfibre cloth
However, when I looked again the following day, I noticed that there were some blue stains lingering, mainly at the points where I stopped the pen when drawing around the quilt template. 
Remaining blue stains, after 12 hours
Remaining blue stains, after 12 hours
I have given it another rub, and it seems to have got rid of the lingering blue stains, and I will check it again before I give it its final wash.  I don't want to rub the quilt too much though.  I guess until I finish the quilt, and  give it a good wash, I am not going to know for sure whether it has worked or not.

Here are the instructions for reference.

Instructions:
All Fabric Markers should be pre-tested on a scrap of your fabric first, for both application and removal.
All temporary markings must be removed before ironing or washing in detergent. Avoid direct sunlight or heat.
To remove marks, simply wipe off with a damp cloth, or rinse out in cold water.

5 comments:

  1. Bardzo ciekawy gadżet!
    Pozdrawiam

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  2. I am paranoid about marking quilts so I appreciate your post!

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  3. I'm not convinced with fabric pens. I have been using sewline ceramic pencils which come in different colours for my quilting.

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  4. That's a pretty quilting motif! Let us know if the blue stays gone from the corners.

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  5. I'm glad you tried the pen because I'm always afraid to try them...

    ReplyDelete