Remember how I wrote about the Frixion Pilot Pens…way back HERE and HERE and HERE …Yes there was a LOT to talk involving these pens!
These are the pens that you can buy at Staples…they go on smoothly when you mark your quilts and heat removes the ink… with a tap of the iron… presto the ink is gone…Sounds wonderful doesn’t it…BUT then we discovered that if your quilt gets (freezing)cold the ink reappears..so we decided to use these pens with caution. It was here that Jackie discovered that washing the quilt prevents this from happening. Since then these pens have become my FAVOURITE pen to mark my quilts for hand quilting and marking embroidery lines.
Well guess who is NOW in my bad books…
Yup…they have been naughty…again!! I got an email from Teri, a blogging friend, who ran into a BIG problem using these pens! Teri was using the Pilon Frixion pen to mark her quilting lines…and then decided to she didn’t like the way she marked these lines so she decided to iron them out and LOOK at what happened!! It removed the colour from the fabric~YIKES!!
YIKES!! Do you see the white lines…that’s where the ink use to be!! Teri also spritzed the fabric with water hoping that this would help…nope!
It’s a good thing this quilt is SEW cute…and the fabric is a print..everyone will be busy looking at that adorable tree and won’t notice the white marks……If the fabric had been a solid dark colour then it’s possible that this quilt could have been ruined!!
So my advice, if you use these pens…TEST BEFORE MARKING YOUR QUILTS!!….and wait at least 30 minutes before ironing the ink out.
The next time I need to mark a quilt…looks like I will be looking into my bag of tricks..…eeny, meeny, miny…mo…???
What’s your favourite pen?? Come on tell all… We REALLY want to know!
Have a Thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P
That white line thing happened to me too..there is always a catch it seems isn't there! :(
ReplyDeleteI don't use pens. I use chalk pencils or a faint any kind of pencil. And (egads) the ladies I quilt with, well we use Laurentian pencil crayons (the kind we use in school.) We hand quilt and so most of the markings are gone by the time we have finished the quilt. Depending on what colour we are quilting on, we use yellow or white.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff to know. I LOVE that Christmas tree wall hanging!
ReplyDeleteI have a fear of all sorts of pens - they seem to be full of surprises. I use chalk pencils, etc. Brush right off!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
Thanks for the info, Paulette. I just purchased a package of the pens at Staples a couple days ago. Have not used them. I planned to use them for tracing embroidery designs that would be covered up by stitching. I would have been hesitant to use them for quilting lines.
ReplyDeleteI use washable Crayola markers. Never had a problem, but I always am making quilts that will be washed, not decorative or art quilts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info....
ReplyDeleteWell, that's good to know! Thank you! My fav is the Clover white wax pen and I see you have a few in your arsenal. I also mark long straight quilting lines with a Chacoliner and lately I've been using a hera marker along the edge of my rulers -works great on solids especially.
ReplyDeleteGood information to know. I still will use the frixon pens for marking on white or light colored fabric for embroidery. For quilting I use either the blue wash away marker or the air eraser purple pens.
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me when I tested my pens recently on a Batik project. But I thought, why not have fun with it. So I wrote my name in a few places on the bag that I was making, and now, it looks like my name was just part of the batik design. I should take a picture... So it's important to test these pens. But I think you can use this in other ways as advantage too.
ReplyDeleteGood old fashioned pencil done lightly. It will disappear, or wash out.
ReplyDeleteBev in Britain.
I've learned to be very careful with marking tools. I am taking a mystery quilt class at the end of the month and the first clue has us cutting lots and lots squares and then drawing a diagonal on them. It was a perfect place to use this pen and I used it up. Otherwise, I use soap slivers and tape.
ReplyDeleteI used a black pen for my needleturn applique. I had a real problem lining up the pieces to be appliqued. I had some large pieces and by the time I did 3 sides, the 4th didn't always line up! So now I have black lines on my white fabric! I haven't ironed it yet to remove the marks.
ReplyDeleteNext project, I went back to the plastic guide with the layout predrawn with a ultrafine permanent marker and even used a lightly drawn pencil line to line up the pieces.
Maybe if they coume out with a really fine tip or a minimal flow of the ink.
I'm not sure if I'd use my Frixxon pen again.
Take care, Leslie
The clover Pencils work for me. I just wish they had a sharper point to go in the templates easier...
ReplyDeleteLike many others I use different things for different things. :) I use the blue washable pens a lot, but when doing redwork I use a red Pigma pen. Sometimes I use pencil, sometimes the Clover pencils and sometimes chalk. It depends on the color of the fabric and what I plan to do. blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteI do use these pens, but mostly for marking the back of a square to cut on the diagonal. Have also used them for marking lines on a label but no problems removing them. I guess it's to be cautious with anything new! I did have a problem with a blue chalk marker. I marked quilting lines on the white blocks in a quilt. Luckily I only marked three blocks, because the marks will not come out. I have used water, a little soap, and even a mixture of vinegar and water as suggested by the company but no luck. I have thrown out the marker in case I forget and use it again. Lesson learned for me! I will use whiteout or something like that to make it less noticeable. One forum suggested to use a brand-name magic eraser but not sure about this. Thanks for the sharing of stories!
ReplyDeletechalk pencils or mechanical pencils for the very fine line all the time.
ReplyDeletePS. I for got to say. I love reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteBev in Britain.
So far I haven't had that trouble...I wonder if it depends on the fabric.
ReplyDeleteWill have to watch out for that.
Thanks Paulette.
Julia ♥
Geesh, here I was excited. I went to Staples last week and bought the pens. Ugh. There is money to be made out there ladies if any of us come up with that magic "do all" pen!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info - glad that I already marked them off my Christmas list.
ReplyDeleteDang it, I just ordered three of those pens!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, Paulette! I use the blue washable pen but am not very happy with it. Always looking for something better. I've never used it but I've heard of the hera marker and am thinking of checking that out. Have a great weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteI use the Hera marker made by clover. It leaves a crease on the fabric so you can quilt on the line it makes. It puts nothing on your fabric, just makes a crease line, looks much like pressing with an iron. The line disappears when washed, or if the project is left unwashed, the quilting covers the crease. I have used this for years now. After my quilt, large or small, is layered, using a ruler or stencil, just make the line for quilting with a crease. Make a mistake? Just steam the line out or wash when done. They cost about $7.00 and come in 2 styles, slim or chubby. Since using the Hera marker I have never had problems again with marks that ruined my quilt. To find what they look like, search Hera marker on amazon. mtelian@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update. I was going to get some of these this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks for increasing awareness. I had a little problem with it too, but hadn't tested it thoroughly to be able to confirm what you did (great job). I'm now nervous on any marker that wasn't truly designed to work on fabric. They can change their ink anytime, and we have so many variables for which we quilt that I'm back to only wanting to use fabric markers. Sure wish they had as nice point/application as the Frixion, but at least I know they'll come out (still test them too).
ReplyDeleteSewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
Hi everybody, for applique and hand quilting on light fabrics I have always used just a #2 pencil, with a very light hand for hand quilting. On dark fabrics, I love Roxanne's quilter's Choice pencils. I have recently discovered a Fons & Porter mechanical pencil that you can use lead or white lead in that also works great!
ReplyDeleteFantastic post...I did my own testing and found similar results... :o)
ReplyDeletehttp://janeweston.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/frixion-pens-be-aware.html