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Now You Can Travel and Not Give Up Any Quilting Time Have you ever taken a long car trip, gone on a cruise, or had a bunch of appointments and wished that you had a portable quilting project? Now you can learn how to make a quilt one block at a time while you are traveling, waiting, or just because you want to make it that way. Chalk is a great way to mark the sewing lines in your Quilt as You Go projects Read more about Quilt as You Go - - - |
Bohin Mechanical Chalk for Marking Quilts
As a hand quilter, I am always in search of ways to mark my quilting design on fabric.
As we heard from Dierdra McElroy on our Eavesdrop on a Telephone 
Conversation, we should be looking for something that will reliably wash out when we are finished quilting.
In addition, we need something that will continue to make a relatively thin line so we know exactly where to quilt.
And let’s not forget that we need to be able to mark on many different colors of fabric. It's easy to remember that white won't show up on white fabric, and black won't show up on black fabric. But, how do you handle the green floral or the red and white stripe?
Dierdre suggested chalk products as a great solution. But, until recently, chalk was limited in its color and thickness.
Relatively recently, I discovered silver chalk to add to the white chalk pencils I had. But these were the thickness of regular pencils, and didn't make a very thin line.
I've used many different marking devices in the past, including markers that say they will wash out (sometimes they do - sometimes they don't!), and pencil (which is usually a permanent mark in a quilt).
By having different colors of chalk, you will be able to mark any kind of line you need - whether it is a sewing line for quilting or a line to match up patches you are adding or blocks you will be sewing together.
A recent “find” that fits all of those criteria (including the chalk part) is Bohin Mechanical Chalk. This chalk comes in several different colors (as you can see in the package), plus a bunch of white chalk sticks.
These chalk sticks are relatively thin to begin with, yet also included is a sharpener, so you can continue to have a pointed tip on the chalk.
Push the yellow button at the end opposite the chalk, and more chalk comes out! Nice. No wooden shavings as you sharpen, because the chalk is protected by a plastic coating instead of wood.
In addition to marking quilting lines, as you work on Quilt as You Go projects, you may find chalk handy to mark sewing lines.
As I worked on my 3 Kings Journey Quilt as You Go Project, the blocks needed to be "squared up." Since they were sewn onto a foundation of batting and backing, I couldn't just trim the blocks. But by using chalk, I was able to mark lines on the blocks so I could match the raw edge of the sashing to a line drawn on the block in order to sew the sashing on and square up the block.
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters
www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
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©2005, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new
quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create
beautiful quilts.
