help getting pencil lines out
Johnson
I'm a "four-month-old" quilter, just completing my class project (a
four-block sampler wall-hanging).... and the pencil lines are bugging
me. I recently went to a quilt show and was amazed to see that many of
the quilts presented still had the pencil lines showing, but I just
can't bear to leave them in.
I was thinking of soaking it in my washing machine with only water, then
letting it spin (no agitation). Any recommendations for or against
this? Any other suggestions?
Thanks so much for your support!
Marci
DDuperault
>
>I'm a "four-month-old" quilter, just completing my class project (a
>four-block sampler wall-hanging).... and the pencil lines are bugging
>me. I recently went to a quilt show and was amazed to see that many of
>the quilts presented still had the pencil lines showing, but I just
>can't bear to leave them in.
>
>
I have quilts nearly as old as I am that still have pencil lines in them.
Good luck getting yours out.
Dawn
Batgirl was a Librarian, too.
http://www.he.net/~dduperal/
PhyllisV
Unfortunately, I have no words of wisdom about removing pencil lines.
You're right,
many quilters do leave the lines but I, like you, find them distracting.
To mark my quilts I use a water erasable pen. When the quilting is
completed, I mist the lines with a spray bottle or go over them with a
very wet washcloth. I've had no problem getting them to disappear and all
you see is quilting. The directions do say that you shouldn't iron over
the markings as this will heat fix them and the water won't work.
Elma Richmond
I was warned not to use water erasible pen as it can eventually rot
the fabric because of the chemicals used in the ink, don't know though
perhaps someone else has a comment
Elma Richmond, Glasgow, Scotland
Susan Chambers
> I'm a "four-month-old" quilter, just completing my class project (a
> four-block sampler wall-hanging).... and the pencil lines are bugging
> me. I recently went to a quilt show and was amazed to see that many of
> the quilts presented still had the pencil lines showing, but I just
> can't bear to leave them in.
>
> I was thinking of soaking it in my washing machine with only water, then
> letting it spin (no agitation). Any recommendations for or against
> this? Any other suggestions?
>
> Thanks so much for your support!
>
> Marci
I use this method for quilter's marking pencils, I learned the hard way
not to use yellow! Sometimes yellow will wash out in the test piece, but
not after the quilt is done. I don't know if this method will work on
lead pencils, but I think it would. You can do this before or after the
quilt is washed - I usually wash my quilt in Orvus paste and warm water
first to see if the lines will wash out. There is excellent advice and
instructions about laundering quilts in "First Aid for Family Quilts" by
Nancy O'Bryant Puentes
Mix a little rubbing alcohol and clear Ivory dishwashing liquid in warm
water. You can use a spray bottle if you wish. I use a bowl. Dip a soft
bristle toothbrush in the solution and gently scrub at the marks. I found
that the toothbrush was gentler and more effective on the fabric than
using a cloth to rub with. The cloth tended to pill the quilt if I rubbed
too hard.
--
Susan Chambers
The Unique Spool
Has anyone used the Ultimate Marking Pencil? It is made to be used on our
quilts and I have found it does wash out. I had marked (over marked) my
grandsons baby quilt. The lines were just awful. I used spray and wash on
the more dense spots, through the whole thing in the washer with Orvus
soap, crossed by fingers and washed. Came out beautifully - the quilt and
the pencil lines.
Roberta Whitworth
Sunny
Cmf96 wrote:
>
> In article <4stin3$j...@sow.colloquium.co.uk>, el...@ms.colloquium.co.uk
> (Elma Richmond) writes:
>
> >I was warned not to use water erasible pen as it can eventually rot
> >the fabric because of the chemicals used in the ink, don't know though
> >perhaps someone else has a comment
> >Elma Richmond, Glasgow, Scotland
I don't know if it rots the fabric or not, but it DOES NOT come out of
every fabric. I worked for a long time to finish a Sunshine and Shadows
top, because I had such a hard time figuring what I wanted for the
borders. I got it pieced, sandwiched, and basted, and was marking the
borders with a curved line. The fuschia border absorbed the pen
differently, started to spread, and WOULD NOTcome out with *any* method
I tried. It took me 2 more years to finish that now much smaller quilt,
because I had to remove the 2 outer borders and it hurt to rip all those
stitches that were so long in coming. (ouch) Eventually, I finished it while
sitting on the lawn listening to Charles Brown and Bonnie Raitt at
Greatwoods. <:-) It's one of my favorite quilts, but I no longer use these
pens, nor do I recommend them to my students.
Sunny
> >
> >
>
> I also heard this...another thing to remember is that the heat generated
> from the sun ( in your car) can heat set this pen as well. Also the marks
> can show again if you are just misting them to remove the marks.<snip>
Kate Matheny
In <4ss3nt$j...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> phyl...@aol.com (PhyllisV)
writes:
>Unfortunately, I have no words of wisdom about removing pencil lines.
>You're right,
>many quilters do leave the lines but I, like you, find them
distracting.
>To mark my quilts I use a water erasable pen. When the quilting is
>completed, I mist the lines with a spray bottle or go over them with a
>very wet washcloth. I've had no problem getting them to disappear and
all
>you see is quilting. The directions do say that you shouldn't iron
over
>the markings as this will heat fix them and the water won't work.
I'm going to jump right in here and repeat again how the disappearing
ink pen ruined my best (and hardest) quilt. I would never recommend
using a chemical pen on an heirloom quilt. Now, lots of people say
that you just need to rinse the pen out very thoroughly and I must not
have. Because whatever residue was left in the quilt ate the fabric
away over time. I will always recommend using the "contact paper"
pattern, that can be moved over and over again with no lines showing.
Kate
Cmf96
>I was warned not to use water erasible pen as it can eventually rot
>the fabric because of the chemicals used in the ink, don't know though
>perhaps someone else has a comment
>Elma Richmond, Glasgow, Scotland
>
>
I also heard this...another thing to remember is that the heat generated
from the sun ( in your car) can heat set this pen as well. Also the marks
can show again if you are just misting them to remove the marks. It must
be completely soaked. I have seen a quilt where the marks reappeared
after 3-4 years....the quilter moved the quilt to a sunny location and the
heat from the window heat set it and it appeared as a green algae colored
mark. The pen probably soaked into the batting and by misting it did not
get it all of the way out.....
Just Beware.....Yvonne
Jeff Macbeth
In article <31EF79...@ccom.net>, k...@ccom.net says...
>
>I'm a "four-month-old" quilter, just completing my class project (a
>four-block sampler wall-hanging).... and the pencil lines are bugging
>me. I recently went to a quilt show and was amazed to see that many
of
>the quilts presented still had the pencil lines showing, but I just
>can't bear to leave them in.
>
>I was thinking of soaking it in my washing machine with only water,
then
>letting it spin (no agitation). Any recommendations for or against
>this? Any other suggestions?
>
>Thanks so much for your support!
>
>Marci
The Spray 'n Wash Stain Stik helped me out - I rubbed it all
over the pencil marks on my Christmas quilt and tossed it in the
washer... it worked for me and my quilt is fine.
Bev Macbeth
Slinskyl
In article <4t3cf3$r...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, cm...@aol.com (Cmf96)
writes:
>I also heard this...another thing to remember is that the heat generated
>from the sun ( in your car) can heat set this pen as well. Also the
marks
>can show again if you are just misting them to remove the marks. It must
>be completely soaked.
Yikes. I used one of those pens on my lone star about five years ago!
What I did was mist it to remove the marks, let it dry, remisted where
they reappeared, and then washed it immediately with Arm and Hammer
laundry detergent to get rid of the general grunge from its lengthy
construction time. I was also a smoker at that time, so there was an odor
in it that needed to be removed.
None of the marks has reappeared, nor has it rotted away yet. I will not
comment on how the recipient has treated this gift in the intervening
time. I will say that I am really sorry I gave it to them, and that they
will not get any more of my quilts as gifts.
I have heard the stories about what those pens can do to fabrics, and that
is partially why I don't use them anymore. Wait, that's not quite true.
I also used one to mark a rose vine in an attic window quilt about three
years ago. It now lives in Germany, and I haven't heard that it is unwell.
I removed the marks the same way on that one, but by then I was no longer
smoking, so the post removal wash was more to get the last remnants of ink
out.
After all these war stories, I'm pretty sure that I won't use them again.
I would hate to have a masterpiece <VBG> destroyed because of a marking
pen.
Just my .02 -
Lisa in CT.
MacDye
I didn't post my results initially because (a) the post would be long, and
(b) this is far from scientific and it would be better if everyone did
their
own test with their own detergent and their own water. Please test for
yourself before marking your quilt -- I don't want to be responsible if
you
don't get the same results I did. With that in mind, here are my results.
RECAP: On a piece of white muslin, I wrote and underscored each pencil's
name twice, and then ironed one column (on cotton with steam). I used a
normal writing pressure and the underscores were probably heavier than the
name. I then washed the muslin with my regular laundry using warm wash,
cold
rinse, Tide detergent. I have no chlorine or other treatment in my water.
RESULTS : (X marks the ones I'm throwing out of the quilting pencil jar)
1. "Lead" pencils, ease of washout, best to worst:
**********************************************************
Berol Karismacolor, Medium, Karisma Graphite Aquarelle
(I believe this is no longer available), made one of the darkest marks,
left
only very slight traces, ironed side possibly slightly darker
No. 2 Student Pencil (plain old writing pencil)
Made light yet visible mark, washing left very faint traces, ironed side
possibly very slightly darker
Ultimate Quilting Pencil Lead in mechanical pencil (X)
Original mark light, marks visible after washing, ironed side possibly
very
slightly darker
Eberhard Faber Microtomic 4H (X)
Made a light thin mark, clearly visible after washing, ironing
unimportant.
Pentel 0.5 mechanical pencil, HB lead (X)
Made light thin mark, clearly visible after washing, unironed mark
slightly
lighter
2. Colored Pencils (Blues), ease of washout, best to worst
********************************************************************
Berol Verithin, Non-Photo Blue
Made pale, thin line, washed out totally
Berol Verithin, Sky Blue
Made pale, thin line, washed out totally
Eagle Prismacolor, Light Blue (X)
Made slightly darker mark, slightly visible on ironed (especially the
underline), very faint traces on unironed side
3. Colored Pencils (Silver), ease of washout, best to worst
********************************************************************
Berol Verithin, Silver
Made light thin line, washed out totally
EZ Silver Marking Pencil
Made light thin line (comparable to Berol), washed out totally
Roxanne's Quilter's Choice
Slightly softer pencil than Berol, light line, washed out totally
4. Colored Pencils (Other), ease of washout, best to worst
********************************************************************
Berol Verithin, Gold
Makes thin, visible line, washed out totally
EZ International Quilting Clear Erase, Gray (no color marked on pencil)
Makes thin, visible linel, washed out totally
Berol Prismacolor, Gray (Gris Froid 30%)
Makes light gray, soft, slightly heavier mark, underline still visible on
ironed, very faint traces on unironed
EZ International Quilting Clean Erase, Yellow (X)
Original marks very light, left faint yellow stain on ironed, no trace on
unironed
Eagle Prismacolor, Gold (X)
Made medium visible mark, underscore visible on ironed, faint traces on
unironed
5. Chalk Pencils (all):
*************************
Dressmaker Pencil (blue chalk)
Makes visible line, slightly darker and thicker than Berol, washed out
totally
Blue Water Soluble Pencil
Makes visible medium thick line, slightly lighter than Dressmaker, washed
out
totally
Dixon Washout Cloth Marker - red
Makes very visible medium thick line, washed out totally
6. Marking Pens:
********************
Mark-B-Gone (Blue)
Makes heavier, very visible line, "bleeds" if you don't mark fast, washed
out
totally
Purple Disappearing Pen (no name) (X)
Makes heavier, very visible line, "bleeds" if you don't mark fast, washed
out
totally
Surprises (to me):
********************
Despite all the warnings about ironing marks, it seemed to make very
little
difference, except on the softer artist pencils and the yellow pencil. My
No. 2 lead pencil washed out about as well as any of the others. The
Ultimate Quilting Lead was a waste of money.
I'd like to see someone else do a test with Orvus.
Diana in Penna.
Cindy Swafford
Thank you!
--
Cindy
"Work is what you do for others;
art is what you do for yourself"
-- Sunday in the Park With George --
8^}
Marilyn Root
Had to jump in here. Am starting a whole cloth quilt done in squares.
I'm marking it with a pencil made by EZ that claims it is a non-oil lead
pencil. Seems to be working very well. I had to stop my quilting in a
campsite in New York because my lines were disappearing from normal
handling. I would rather have the lines disappear and have to mark again
than have the lines stay in forever. At the Ohio State Fair last year I
saw a beautiful quilt done with the shadow method where you put organdy
over the colors to make them soft and delicate. I'm sure it would have
won top prize but there were very obvious pencil marks all over.
Marilyn
VerdiJ
Diana, thank you! I've put the good ones on my list! Verdi
Ngener
In article <gchamber-210...@tole-cs-1.dial.bright.net>,
gcha...@bright.net (Susan Chambers) writes:
>I use this method for quilter's marking pencils, I learned the hard way
>not to use yellow! Sometimes yellow will wash out in the test piece, but
>not after the quilt is done.
Yellow pencils are made with sulfur, and sulfur is also an ingredient in
dyes! (In fact, sulfur is a major component of indigo). I recall my
mother using that waxed yellow tracing paper for making clothes for me
when I was younger. All those clothes had little yello dots and dart
lines that showed through (Mom did OK, but wasn't a great seamstress -
tailor tacks would have been beyond her)
Putting Organic Chemistry 301 back to rest....
Naomi (nge...@aol.com)
"Much of the cause for increased government distrust and hate in our
country is a direct result of an increasingly intrusive and abusive
government. In my opinion, that hate and distrust shouldn't be directed
toward government workers such as those at the IRS. While there are
egregious exceptions, those workers are decent Americans simply following
congressional orders. If Congress charges IRS workers with the
responsibility of collecting 20 percent of the nation's annual output,
instrusiveness, citizen abuse and violation of the Constitution cannot be
avoided. During the '80s, one IRS official, in response to a
congressman's query, said the agency couldn't do its job if it had to obey
laws light everyone else." - Dr. Walter E. Williams, George Mason
University
The Palmers
> The Spray 'n Wash Stain Stik helped me out - I rubbed it all
> over the pencil marks on my Christmas quilt and tossed it in the
> washer... it worked for me and my quilt is fine.
Bev,
Thanks for the tip! I'll try it tonight!
Vicki
Jeff Macbeth
In article <4tadd4$o...@login.freenet.columbus.oh.us>,
mr...@freenet.columbus.oh.us says...
Marilyn Root!! Saw your picture in the May/June '96 issue of
FRIENDS magazine...I KNEW your name looked familiar! :-) Happy
stitching to you, & keep up with the keyboarding, too!
Bev Macbeth>
Lyndee Atkins
Ellen Hofer wrote:
>
> But, anyway, if you need to mark on top of a quilt, use disappearing ink
> markers available at most dewing, craft, quilt store. One will stay on
> the fabric until rinsed with cold water (and we almost always wash our
> quilts after making them, right?) and the other one disappears after a
> short time just from being in the air.
>
> -
> E HOFER FPF...@prodigy.com
Hi,
I have been told now for several years that using disappearing ink will
sometimes come back years later as a yellowish stain. I would not use
these items on an heirloom quilt or on anything else actually, just my
opinon though. I use Dixon chalk pencils(sold at quilt stores, and
ivory or dove soap slivers on dark material).
Lyndee
Ellen Hofer
Your note has been here for awhile but this is my first time here so I
would like to give you a hint for next time. Pencil is really hard to get
out and I only use it if I am using templates to draw around the edges.
I did find a neat little gadget that holds 2 pencils at a time exactly
1/4" apart. It's cool for when the patten says to add 1/4" for seams.
Really easy for straight lins but not so easy for those curves.
But, anyway, if you need to mark on top of a quilt, use disappearing ink
markers available at most dewing, craft, quilt store. One will stay on
the fabric until rinsed with cold water (and we almost always wash our
quilts after making them, right?) and the other one disappears after a
short time just from being in the air.
I don't even know if you will get this or not or if you will visit this
article again but I hope it helps.
-
E HOFER FPF...@prodigy.com