Marking Quilting Lines
A. Choosing a Quilting Design
The quilting design should enhance but not overpower the quilt top. Designs often have a “flavor”: for example, oriental, whimsical, formal, elegant, juvenile, etc. Pick the “flavor” that coordinates with the quilt.
Annemarie (Nancy) Poorbaugh, Montgomery, AL
If unsure or feeling a little insecure for quilting lines, start with something simple. Shadow the quilt blocks by marking a quilting line ¼” on each side of the seams. Or mark simple diagonal lines through the blocks.
Anna Osborn, Omaha, NE
Remember the denser the quilting, the firmer, less cuddly the quilt.
I often think of the quilting as adding the movement to the quilt.
Dorothy Thayer, Haliburton, Ontario
When I hand quilt, I generally stick to echoing shapes, in-the-ditch, or random quilt lines, depending on a project. For example, sky fabric asks for the cloud shapes to be outlines, or sometimes you want to give the feeling of swirling wind.
With longarm quilting, I generally prefer an overall design like a meandering line. The exception is when I have a pictorial quilt. The quilter works with me to do a custom design that will enhance the shapes and movements in the quilt.
I often think of the quilting as adding the movement to the quilt.
Nancy Henry, Rochester, NH
The design of the quilt always dictates the areas which should be quilted. I prefer organic patterns—stems, leaves, vines—for hand quilting in asymmetric areas. Geometric patterns fit regular areas; meander quilting is frequently most appropriate in small areas.
Sharon Mountford, Canoga Park, CA
I choose a quilting design for handquilting by laying different quilting stencils that fit within the individual blocks. I consider the overall lines of the quilt and what blends with the overall look I want to create. Sometimes I choose bigger quilting stencils that will cover several blocks if that blends better. I try to choose a border stencil that blends or coordinates with the block stencil as well and doesn’t clash with the blocks within the quilt. Simplicity is usually my best choice.
Geralyn McClarren, Harrisburg, PA
Take pictures of the area that you want to quilt, then print out the pictures on 8½ × 11 sheets of paper and then draw the quilting pattern on the picture to help you decide if this is what you want. You can also use transparency sheets and dry erase markers.
I plan the top design to accommodate the quilting. I try to minimize the number of seams I have to hand quilt across.
Janet Atkins, Athens, NY
If you think ahead of time, pick a background fabric that has drawn lines and follow that line. You will look at background fabric differently from now on for sure. No marking! What could be easier? Once I used a leaf from the pattern and drew them all over the background. It turned out great.
Mary Andra Holmes, Prescott, AZ
I hang the quilt top up on my design board or table, and it eventually kind of “talks” to me. If I’m still unsure, I’ll draw the design on a clear plastic overlay using a wet-erase pen to see if it works.
Ruth Anglin, Tijeras, NM
Frequently I quilt just ¼” from the seam lines. I like the look of straight lines.
Nancy Stevens, Glenside, PA
I like to have a large photo of the quilt. Sometimes I take a picture of the pattern to an office supply store and have it blown up 300 or 400 percent and I get 3–6 copies. I use the copies to experiment with sketching possible designs such as cross hatching, diagonal stitching, outline stitching, echo stitching around appliqué, or in other ways determine from my sketches what pattern (s) I will use when quilting. I study my quilt to see if there are large open places that need a secondary pattern of stitches—or whether the quilt piecing stands on its own and I should focus on stitch-in-the-ditch and outline stitches.
Marti Blankenship, Pleasant Valley, MO
The best book for inspiration is the Encyclopedia of Quilting Designs by Phyllis Miller.
Shelia Smith, Goldthwaite, TX
Sometimes I will choose a pattern from one of my white-on-white fabrics, if there are any in the quilt I’m working on, and quilt a larger version of that pattern. It’s a great way to tie a design together.
Amanda Kei Andrews, Vero Beach, FL
I usually lay out my quilt top on the guest bed for a few days and keep walking by it. I will mark a block or two with either water soluble marker or Frixion pen. I’ll look at the blocks for a day or two to see if the quilt talks to me. If I like a design, then I will mark the whole quilt and load it to my hand quilting floor frame.
Karen Nick, Lutz, FL
As many of my quilts are for babies and young children, I like to use fabric with pictures in it. I outline-quilt around the pictures, especially faces.
Dorothy Thayer, Haliburton, Ontario
I love traditional grid backgrounds for appliquéd quilts. Most of all, I love feathers in borders.
Amy DeCesare, Delmont, PA
I like old-fashioned quilting patterns, some of which have historical stories with them. I save my quilting magazines because some things become more attractive after they have been around awhile.
Carol Baruschke, Dunedin, FL
I base my quilting design (hand quilting) on the finished piecing style. Appliqué and patchwork blocks are outlined stitched. Open spaces include blocks of feathered quilting and cross hatching. Log Cabin blocks are always quilted stitch-in-the ditch. If the piecing design is busy, I will use all-over cross hatch or a diamond design and may even quilt from the back. My favorite sashing and border quilting designs are cable, pumpkin, feather and straight line stitching.
Ellen Harris, Huntsville, AL
I like to hide in little elements that go with the theme of the quilt: eagle feathers within a quilt about rainforest flora and fauna, bugs and butterflies in a garden quilt. With the very simple quilting I do, if someone takes the time to really look at the quilting, they will get a nice visual reward.
LynDee Lombardo, Olympia, WA
I tend to do geometric quilts, and my favorite way to quilt is to emphasize the shapes. I usually quilt ¼” from seams, repeating in more echoes if necessary. I like to do patterns with lots of small pieces, but in areas like borders, I sometimes follow the prints or stripes instead of marking a design.
Nancy Swanwick, Fort Scott, KS
When I learn how to use the long-arm at my local quilt shop, my options will be vastly multiplied. Until then I’m limited to my machine at home, and I hate wrestling the bulk of a quilt through that, so I grit my teeth and use a simple diagonal grid.
Ellen Mueller, Acton, MA
Mixing traditional block patterns with modern quilting lines is one of my favorite things.
Because I love triangles I am drawn to any quilting design using this element. Mixing traditional block patterns with modern quilting lines is one of my favorite things.
Ellen Corning, McFarland, WI
I love swirls and paisleys, so they show up in just about every quilt.
Trudy McKinnon, Redcliff, Alberta
I’ve come across a design from my mother or grandmother’s era and I use it to honor them.
Eileen D. Wenger, Lancaster, PA
In hand quilting, if I have a border or plain block that will show off my quilting stitch, then I will sometimes use a stencil for a “fancy” design. Sometimes less is more, and all that is required is an allover cross hatch design.
Nora Manley, Athens, AL
I consider:
1. who the quilt is for, male/female, young/older.
2. what the quilt is trying to say, a theme.
3. how close the stitching will need to be, based on the batting.
4. is the quilt top busy, or does it need to have a design element added?
5. is it intended for the quilting to blend with the quilt, or is it to be readily seen?
Anna Osborn, Omaha, NE
I have a PC Quilter and a design program for it. I buy designs from designers online. I decide which design would look best on a given quilt and use it. The designs I use on my PC Quilter are simple edge to edge designs.
Charlotte Kewish, Gibsonia, PA
For machine quilting, I do stitch in the ditch, grid and stipple/meander. For hand quilting, I do echo and outline quilting.
Valerie Turer, Brooklyn, NY
When quilting multiple, same-size squares on a quilt, develop a basic shape and then use variations in each square. Try freeform botanic patterns. No plants are really ever identical. Variation is good.
Sharon Mountford, Canoga Park, CA
I’m not a fancy quilter. My main concern is to have an all-over even consistency of quilting throughout my quilts. I hate any big unquilted areas.
Francis Stanley, Slidell, LA
If the quilt top has straight lines, I try to put something with curves on it. If the quilt top has curved lines, I will use something with straight lines.
Shirley Rouse, Havre de Grace, MD
B. Preferred Marking Tools
I prefer Roxanne white and silver pencils because they last longer than most markers.
Ellen Volker, Lancaster, NY
I love the Hera marker, because it leaves no actual mark, just an indent in the fabric.
C.L. Schoon, Delfgauw, Netherlands
I have just started using the tip of a wooden “orange” stick (used for fingernails) to indent the quilt and I think I like that best of all: no chemicals in the fabric.
Valerie Turer, Brooklyn, NY
The Bohin mechanical pencils with white lead make thin, precise lines that stay in place, even on a vibrating long-arm machine. They come out easily with water or a microfiber cloth. The Chaco liners are also easy to erase with a microfiber cloth, although the line is less precise and not as easy to see.
Diane Linker, Scarsdale, NY
I love Sewline pencils in gray and white. They make a fine line and if your thread doesn’t cover it, you can erase them. I also use painter’s tape for grids as you can get it in several widths and it leaves no goo.
I swear I have every marking tool known to man, but I always go back to the mechanical lead pencil.
Dee Johnson, Mankato, MN
I swear I have every marking tool known to man, but I always go back to the mechanical lead pencil. The lead is very fine. It washes off. I can use it to mark from very light to much darker, and I can refill it.
Evelyn Horn, Yakima, WA
For darker fabrics I still like the old red chalk markers, the ones that seamstresses use. I’ve even used slivers of soap, which work well if they are very thin.
Patricia Grimm, New Windsor, NY
I use chalk pencils because they never damage the fabric, always come out completely, and are easy to re-trace if necessary.
Diane Bachman, Leola, PA
I use the new ceramic pencils. They wash out nicely and stay on the fabric until I finish quilting.
Judith Beach, Vienna, VA
I like to use chalk because I know it will come out. Marking pens are great, but they all state that if you leave them too long, they may not come out. Unfortunately, we all get distracted from time to time and have to leave a project longer than we would like.
Karen Lane, Wandong, Australia
I use tailors’ chalk for dark fabrics and air-soluble pen for light fabrics. The tailors’ chalk lasts and lasts, so I can mark it up and then go back to it days later. Air soluble pen is ideal for light colors, but only lasts for minutes so I can’t mark up everything at once.
Deb Spencer, Greenwith, Australia
I am wary of any marking tools that are ink-based. Call me old-fashioned, but I would be afraid that the ink would change over time and create a stain or some unsightly vision in the fabric. I use a Chaco marker. It is a little vial of chalk that is applied with a tiny little wheel. I can brush it off and remark if necessary. I also use Sewline’s pencils, especially if I am marking on light fabric. The marks are easily removed with a damp cloth.
Janice Simmons, Fresno, CA
I use a yard stick and a Chaco-liner because it’s fast and easy. It washes out. But mostly because I love that clickety-click sound it makes.
Ellen Mueller, Acton, MA
I prefer not to mark as much as possible. I have used chalk pencils and been very frustrated by the chalk breaking and having to sharpen all the time.
Elizabeth Beardsley, Boulder, CO
I like to trace my quilting design onto tracing paper and pin the tracing paper to the top of the quilt. I stitch through the paper and the quilt sandwich. By the time I’m done, the paper is usually in shreds so the paper removal is not a big deal. I don’t have to worry about markings not washing out of the top and get exactly the size I need in exactly the place I need.
Jennifer Padden, Austin, TX
I use a product called Golden Threads, a tissue-type roll of yellow paper where the design can be drawn on the paper and pinned or temporarily sprayed to the quilt top. The paper is thin and is easy to rip off once the design is quilted to the top.
Marcy Leland, Afton, MN
I love the Frixion marking pens because they do not rub off during the quilting process and yet will dissolve with the heat of my iron.
Donna Hill, Brimley, MI
Top 10 Quilting Snacks, According to Our Survey
I have various healthy snacks stashed in my sewing quarters at all times—because I just hate to stop once I’m in the zone on a project. Nature Valley Protein bars, almonds, dry cereal, almonds . . . and yes, some chocolate now and then. Plenty of water on hand also.
Nancee McCann, Wilmington, DE
I prefer water- or iron-erasable fine point pens. I don’t like pencils because they seem to pull the fabric, and trying to erase the marks definitely pulls at the fabric.
Margaret Ward, Sugar Land, TX
I like to use Crayola washable markers, but I prewash all my fabrics, and wash my quilts when they are done. I use a chalky, waxy white pencil for dark fabric that markers won’t show up on.
Barbara Porter, Arroyo Grande, CA
I wash my quilts that are marked with a lead pencil with several white bath towels. The nap of the towels creates a mild abrasive that helps remove the lead pencil.
I generally use a Clover white marker on dark fabrics that is easily removed after the quilt top is complete by ironing over the markings. I prefer the marker to a white chalk-type pencil because when I hand quilt, my quilt is handled quite a bit and the chalk wears off the blocks before I get to quilt them. I use the Ultimate lead pencil for lighter fabrics because it is relatively easy to remove after the quilt is complete.
I generally wash my quilts that are marked with a lead pencil with several very lightly colored or white bath towels. The nap of the towels creates a mild abrasive that helps remove the lead pencil.
Geralyn McClarren, Harrisburg, PA
My favorite marking tool now is a Frixion pen that you can iron off the marks. Prior to that I used chalk lines. I liked the chalk lines because I could just brush the chalk off, but with the pens you can mark the whole quilt at one time with no worry about losing the lines until you are ready to have them gone.
Catharine Drevniok, Combermere, Ontario
Never use cinnamon as it will stain your quilt. I know this from experience.
Diane Mickel, Woolwich Township, NJ
I trace my pattern on Press’n Seal with a permanent Sharpie, (Press’n Seal is usually used in the kitchen) place the sticky side to my quilt, and quilt around it. Pull the Press’n Seal off when finished.
I try to avoid using anything that must be washed. I don’t usually have any issue with this because I use the ribbon/pin method.
Deb Spencer, Greenwith, Australia
C. Achieving Accuracy When Marking Quilting Lines
The best way to ensure accuracy while marking is to do it before layering the quilt top with the batting and backing. If you have to mark after the quilt is layered, some templates can be pinned to secure in place through the little registration holes.
Karen Martin, Breezy Point, MN
Take breaks, because marking is tedious and demanding of the vision.
Kevin Kern, Paradise Valley, NV
A good flat surface is necessary to lay out your quilt. Good lighting helps a lot. Don’t drink a lot of coffee that day!
Lorraine Frederick, Perkasie, PA
Have the quilt top on a surface large enough to allow the quilt to lay flat with none hanging over an edge. Secure top with tape like painters’ removable tape so it does not shift/move during marking process. Use the same marking tools throughout the entire quilt.
Anna Osborn, Omaha, NE
I tend to be somewhat relaxed in the placement of the quilting. I feel this gives the quilt a more natural appearance.
Nancy Koyanik, Troy, VA
I try to plan a design that requires as little marking as possible. I use stencils with gridded lines to allow me to make free motion designs that are even-sized and correctly placed. If I am doing a design that requires complete accuracy, I use Golden Threads paper or Press-n-Seal and quilt through it. When using Golden Threads or Press-n-Seal, I make sure that I am using a washable marker because the machine can transfer the ink through the paper to the quilt top.
Diane Linker, Scarsdale, NY
For crosshatching quilting, measure the size of the finished quilt block that you are working with. Make sure it can be divided evenly by a number (for example: a 10” block can be divided by 5, so every line is 2” apart, an 8” block can be divided by 2 or 4, thus 4” apart or 2” apart). This gives a balanced appearance to the cross hatching. Then start in the center of the quilt, lay the quilt top flat on a table with the edges as square as possible. Work out from the center, using the blocks themselves as a guide to keep everything as straight as possible.
Sandy Howell, Highland, UT
I like to use an Alvin drafting compass. It lets you do circles up to 24” in diameter. It has a mechanical pencil which I love because you get a much thinner line, reducing error due to ever-widening pencil lines with standard pencils.
Rosemarie Garone, West Islip, NY
For hand quilting only: in the main quilt area, I usually quilt in the ditch from seam to seam, so that’s easy, but putting cross hatch or slanted lines on a plain border is sometimes difficult. I mark the middle of each border for reference and start at each corner, marking lines heading toward the middle. When you get to the center, adjust the lines to fit.
Nora Manley, Athens, AL
Sharpen your chalk pencil often to keep a narrow dense line that is easier to see and more accurate; it can be hard to tell exactly where a thicker, softer line should be.
Diane Bachman, Leola, PA
Measure, measure, measure for things like cross hatching. I often cross hatch in widths that are the width of a ruler.
I often cross hatch in widths that are the width of a ruler.
Most of the other quilting I do is echoing (as in Hawaiian quilts) where I eyeball a ¼” (or larger) space between echos. The quilting is so dense that small variations are not really noticeable.
Nancy Henry, Rochester, NH
Painter’s tape works well for straight lines. Rather than trying to draw lines that are straight and evenly spaced, just sew along both sides of the tape. The tape provides proper spacing and is easily removed when you are finished.
Denece Turner, Evans, GA
I do two things before I mark the quilt: first, iron the top with starch so I won’t get folds in the fabric and second, I place a fine sandpaper under the area I am marking. The sandpaper holds the area I want to mark and I am able to mark it lightly (and enough to be able to see with these eyes!).
Deanna Davis, Dover, AR
I like to use background fabrics that have a stripe to them; they require little marking as I can use the stripe as a guide for the quilting.
Linda Gabrielse, Kentwood, MI
I match my quilting lines to the blocks, not to any angle measurement. The eye will make it look right.
Kristi Wilson, Irving, TX
Ensure that vertical and horizontal lines are aligned with the top and edges of the quilt.
Shirley Rouse, Havre de Grace, MD
I spray a bit of basting spray to the side of the template to be laid onto the fabric. This is a big help to keep it from slipping.
Bobbie Haynes, Shepherdsville, KY
I match quilting lines up with seams and lines in the print of the fabric and really try to not stress too much. My quilting teacher taught me to enjoy quilting more (and possibly make some small mistakes) and obsess less.
If I’m using a stencil, I either pin or tape it in place since the stencil will move around as you are marking lines.
Catharine Drevniok, Combermere, Ontario
D. Removing Marked Lines
I use a special mixture of Clorox 2 and Ivory dish soap that has never let me down.
I usually remove markings with a spritz of water, but if that does not work, I use a special mixture of Clorox 2 and Ivory dish soap that has never let me down.
Barbara Eisenrauch, Grasonville, MD
I remove my marked lines with a toothbrush dipped in water after I quilt a section. Upon completion of my quilt, I wash the quilt in cold water with a gentle cycle.
Ellen Harris, Huntsville, AL
If you do freehand quilting, you don’t need to worry about the marking lines needing to be removed!
Barbara Johnson, Dallas, OR
Chalk I blow off with canned air, water soluble I mist with water, and I let pencil wear off.
Colleen Potts, Pottsville, PA
Those blue or purple evaporating pens have to be soaked to come out of the finished quilt. The color does go away, but the pen mark stays and when the quilt gets warm for any reason, a brown stain will come back. When that happens, it doesn’t go away.
Patti Goggio, Broadlands, VA
An artgum eraser is also good for removing pencil lines.
Marti Blankenship, Pleasant Valley, MO
I am able to erase the pencil marks with an eraser as long as I don’t press too hard.
Denise Rosbicki, South Prince George, VA
I have a pet hair remover that I use to remove chalk marks. If I ever use any other marker, I soak the finished quilt overnight, then dry the quilt.
Patti Goggio, Broadlands, VA
I use Mark-Be-Gone, and spritz a little water on it when I’m finished.
Victoria Page, Amarillo, TX
Sew Clean, a product promoted by Pam Clarke, is the very best product to use for pencil marks, chalk, etc. It is made from oranges and is organic and safe. It doesn’t leave any residue on the quilt. It works like a miracle. You wet a sponge and spray some Sew Clean on the sponge. No scrubbing is needed. If I am only removing a loose chalk, I will wipe it with a microfiber cloth first and only use the Sew Clean on any recalcitrant spots.
Diane Linker, Scarsdale, NY
I only use bottled distilled water to erase markings, not tap water. Tap water has too many minerals and could leave brown marks on light-colored fabrics
Lorraine Frederick, Perkasie, PA
I make two pads from white paper towels. One goes in my left hand beneath the quilt and one is dipped into water and then I dab at the quilt top until the marks disappear.
Patricia Grimm, New Windsor, NY
If I do use a marking pen, I use the kind that water erases. I use a sponge-topped bottle that is meant for sealing envelopes.
Ann Hay, Carlisle, PA
Do not mark the Golden Threads quilting paper with a regular graphite pencil. I have had the graphite transfer to polyester thread when quilting on the line and it is difficult to remove.
Georgia Pierce, Seattle, WA
Be careful about marking tools. Some of them will come off the quilt top easily enough but will stubbornly adhere to the glaze on the hand quilting thread.
Be careful about marking tools. Some of them will come off the quilt top easily enough but will stubbornly adhere to the glaze on the hand quilting thread.
Diane Linker, Scarsdale, NY
Do not use colored chalk and then stitch over it with white thread. You will not be able to get the color of the chalk out of the thread easily.
Amy Kentera, Highland Mills, NY
I don’t remove markings. I make sure the marks are light and sew right over them. That’s how vintage quilts were made.
Rosemarie Garone, West Islip, NY
E. Consideration for Machine Quilting Lines
I like to take some element from the quilt and then duplicate it in the quilting pattern. I use a long arm machine to quilt with, so I am usually not marking the quilt but using a laser guide to quilt with, or free handing it.
Sandy Howell, Highland, UT
If quilting on a domestic machine without a stitch regulator, it is easier for most to quilt straight lines rather than curved lines, although with practice, lovely rounded patterns can be achieved.
Barbara Gentner, West Seneca, NY
The thin tissue paper, Golden Threads, that you can transfer quilting designs onto works well for machine quilting applications. It tears away easily and allows you to copy a design accurately without marking up the actual quilt.
Jan Mast, Lancaster, PA
I have taught machine quilting, and have machine quilted for many years. I find that once quilters are confident, they need to mark less. Unless you are making a quilt to be judged, a little bump here or there, to me, is worth not having to mark the quilt.
Sally Eshelman, York, PA
I have an embroidery feature with my Bernina 830, and I can choose to use the designs in my library (which is extensive), or I choose from a book of continuous line quilting designs.
Deborah Gross, Willow Grove, PA
Sometimes I use a small cookie cutter and trace with a Frixion pen. Sometimes I go free hand. I try to match the quilting with the theme of the quilt.
J. Duda, East Amherst, NY
I try to use continuous stitching designs in machine quilting.
Jan Mast, Lancaster, PA
I use straight lines when I machine quilt. In the ditch mostly.
Janet Olmstead, Calgary, Alberta
As I am now a confident machine quilter, I try to mark as little as possible, because a neat flowing machine stitch line looks much nicer than one that’s forced by trying to keep on the marked line.
Ellen Boes-Smit, The Hague, Netherlands
If a stencil is not a continuous design, I try to redraw it so that I can quilt in continuous lines without stopping.
Annemarie (Nancy) Poorbaugh, Montgomery, AL
I hate marking, so I try to use seam lines and edge of presser foot as a quilting pattern guide.
Joanne Scott, Peotone, IL
If I have a really good backing fabric with an interesting, easy to follow design that complements the front, I quilt it from the back.
Dorothy T. Harrison, Snow Hill, NC
I only do cross-hatching on a small quilt. I use the bar on the walking foot to measure where the next row goes. I do not mark the quilt top.
Barbara Augustine, Woodbridge, VA
Less is more. Just mark the spines of feathers for instance, and let the brain and machine do the rest. I especially like the stencils that just grid the area and go from there.
Mary Beth Schrader, Cameron, MO
I rarely mark for machine quilting because meandering is my first choice. If I am doing feathers, I mark key spots I need to hit.
Nancy Chase, Columbus, MT