Chalk Pencils and Other Chalk Markers

Chalk pencils and other chalk based quilt marking tools are easy to use and readily available at your local quilt store.

In the past, using chalk ALWAYS meant marking your quilt top AFTER creating the quilt sandwich. The chalk rubbed off during quilt basting.

This is no longer necessarily true. New chalks have hit the market that have more staying power.

Clover Chalk Wheel: The Chaco-Liner

This little gizmo is just plain fun to use and effective.

It comes in four colors: white, pink, blue and yellow. Refills available for each color.

Mark your quilt top after it's basted. This chalk formulation still rubs off as you pin baste.

Lay a quilting ruler along the line you want to mark and zip a line of chalk.

That's it.

Nothing to remove later. The chalk wears off during quilting.

Quilt Pounce Pad

This quilt marking tool is filled with powdered chalk. When used with quilt stencils, either manufactured or homemade, marking is quick and easy.

Use either "Miracle chalk" or "Ultimate chalk" and it's durable, too.

The pad works the best when used on a hard surface.

If the chalk isn't sticking as well as you'd like, use a cheap aerosol hair spray and lightly spray the chalked design.

How to Use the Pounce Pad

1. Fill this quilt marking tool with Ultimate or Miracle Chalk powder.
2. To prime the Pounce and with the lid on, tap it several times on a table top to work the chalk into the pad.
3. Position your stencil on your quilt.
4. Tap the Pounce down on your stencil and wipe it across the openings. DO NOT POUNCE! The chalk is transferred best with a rubbing motion.
5. Lift the edge of the stencil to check that all the lines transferred.
6. Remove the stencil and quilt.

Chalk Removal

The Ultimate or Miracle Chalk used in the Pounce is more durable than other types of loose chalk. Remove these two longer lasting chalks with a steam iron.

You may iron the block from the back side for removal (helpful if it's an applique block).

If you've used a metallic thread and you prefer to not iron, use a damp cloth to wipe the lines away. You may also brush them away.

Bohin Mechanical Chalk Pencil

Not your Grandmother's chalk pencil, this chalk pencil is a favorite of ours.

This quilt marking tool is a mechanical pencil with compressed ceramic chalk for "lead". It never needs sharpening. The extra fine "lead" (0.9mm) leaves a nice line. The chalk can be washed out or erased with the fabric eraser. And yes, the eraser on the pencil works!

Bohin makes four colors (white, gray, yellow, green) of these "leads" that swap in and out of the same chalk pencil. Nifty!

Use a light box to transfer designs to your quilt top.

The chalk glides easily across your fabric and makes a brighter white line than the Clover White Marker.

Trudy has used this pencil on some of the Generations Quilt Patterns sample quilts (the largest to date is 24" square). The quilts were marked before pin basting. She did a bit of remarking to "brighten" the lines. They had faded a bit and weren't as dark as Trudy likes.

Julie loves this one. It is neater than others, the point is always nice and it fits comfortably in the hand. Most importantly, this quilt marking tool leaves a nice line to see and follow.

Chalk Pencils that Need Sharpening

Again, with chalk, mark the quilting design after basting the quilt sandwich. A wide variety of pencils are available. The photo shows what I currently have in my stash.

Do test the colored chalks on scraps of your quilt fabric before using them on your top. While we've had no problems removing the chalk by brushing it away, the time you take to test can save you from a headache later.

Chalk pencils are great for last minute marking and drawing general guidelines or "fences" in for free motion quilting. But the points do wear down quickly. Keep a pencil sharpener handy when you're marking.

Our final re-MARK-s

Test Your Marking Tools

There's nothing fancy to testing. Make a small quilt sandwich from fabric scraps from your quilt. Mark with your intended marking tool. (It will take about the same amount of time to piece or applique your quilt as to quilt.)

Evaluate!

• Did the marks last as long as needed for quilting?
• Was removal as easy as anticipated?
• Did the quilt markings come off completely and leave no staining behind?

If the answer is "yes" to all questions, proceed with marking your quilt top. If any answer is "no", then re-evaluate and test your quilting marking tools.

Chalk pencils and marking tools are a quilter's best friend when used at the proper time for marking your quilt tops. Be open to trying different types to find YOUR favorite!

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