An Easy Quilt Marking Tip

My goal for marking my quilts is to have absolutely no marks left behind.  I have a few favorite markers, and today I am showing you an easy way to mark with a Clover Chacoliner.

This is a smallish hand-pieced hexagon (duh!) quilt.  I have finished the quilting in one direction and have started to mark the other.  You can see a marked line in the lower left corner.  You can also see some of the quilting lines.  

Here you can see the quilted lines more easily.  I am using a variegated YLI Fusions thread in 24 weight.  Makes a strong statement, which for this quilt I love.

And here as well.  The lines move from the lower left to the upper right through the middle of the hexagons.

I cut paper into a scallop design and then transferred it to plastic.  It's easier to trace along the firmer edge.  Notice the straight line about in the middle of the template.  That's my leveling line.

Leveling line, you ask?  Although I am not making perfectly parallel rows of  quilting lines, I do want them to be in about the same place on each row.  (The hills and dales do not line up from one row to the next.)  Look closely at the line and the hexagons below it.  I know it's hard to see, but the line aligns with the hexagon "innies".  Easy, right?

I use the chalk marker (white only!) to race along the edge of the plastic.  I have moved the template over so that you can see what I did more clearly.

This shows several lines of quilting marked and you can also see how these lines are intersecting with the lines already quilted.  It makes for an "organic" feel to the quilting.  I'll post another picture when the quilting is done and the binding is on.

The chalk will be gone when I am done quilting, or I can use a damp cloth to finish the job.  Other colors of chalk contain dye and can leave a truly lasting mark.

Blissful Monday hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  Yes, I do a lot of basting.  My grids are usually 1.5 inches apart with smallish stitches.  I quilt without a hoop or frame and without poking my underneath fingers.  The amount of basting helps keep the quilt flat.