The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

  • About
    • Meet Jenny
    • Resume
    • FAQs
  • Contact
  • Calendar
  • Gallery
  • Blog
  • Education
    • Lectures
    • Workshops
    • On-Demand Course
    • Tutorials
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Shop
  • 0 items$0.00

Update: Frixion Pen Test and Wobbly Lines

April 3, 2012

I guess I am a bit of a researcher at heart. In my last post I expressed concern about how the heat erasable Frixion pens will “bloom” back when the quilt gets cold. I also was perplexed as to why my quilted lines were wobbly on my practice piece.

I received the following comment from Carol Cann, a talented Canadian quilter I met in my class with Diane Gaudynski in Paducah:
“…for those of us who live in a northern/cold climate, a quilt could get cold if put in a trunk and driven to a quilting event.  There is also concern if a quilt is shipped to a quilting event during the colder months, not sure if postal trucks are heated in the cargo area.  Some of the ladies in Canada who send their quilts to shows are concerned the pen marks may come back when shipped and possibly exposed to cold.  That would be pretty embarrassing to be accepted into a show and then have the quilt turn up with all the marks “blooming” back onto the quilt.”

Wow, excellent point. Note too that the marks do disappear again upon warming.

It was also suggested that if you washed the piece, the marks would not bloom back. I HAD to test this. I did my own little Consumer Reports testing of that premise and found that yes indeed, if you wash the quilt, the markings will NOT bloom back anymore at all.

Great, except….the whole point for me was that I didn’t want to wash my art quilts! Also, beware that the Frixion pens leave bleached out looking marks on many fabrics as you can see here.

I do love the way the Frixion pens mark easily with a thin, very visible line-better than any other marking method. If I was going to wash my piece and if the pen did not leave marks on the project I was working, then the Frixion pens would be my go-to marking method.

To summarize:

  • Frixion pens do “bloom” back and show marks if subjected to cold temps.
  • Frixion pens leave a bleached looking mark on some fabrics. If you hit your marked line with stitching it won’t matter, but, if you change your mind or don’t hit your lines, you may see bleached looking marks all over your quilt.
  • If you wash the quilt, the markings will not bloom back in the cold.
  • BUT, if I was going to wash it, wouldn’t I have just used the blue wash out markers instead????

Marking is fraught with peril-there is no foolproof marker/method for marking your quilts, even ones you wash. I have a quilt on which I used the blue wash out marker-it left brown lines. I did everything correct in the use of the marker and the treatment of the quilt. Inexplicably,  I have some staining. If you use a method that removes easily and is virtually guaranteed to not leave a mark-those marks sometimes leave before you’re done quilting! Other methods are just difficult to see and quilt.

That is why I prefer to work almost exclusively free hand, no stencils-rarely do I mark.

WOBBLY LINES

Also, I discovered that my wobbly lines were NOT a machine issue, but a fabric issue. The fabric I used here was a somewhat coarse cotton with a low thread count. As a result, when my needle hit one of those big ole fat threads, it would have to go left or right of that thread, thus creating the wobble. Shirley Hendrickson, The One Of Great Knowledge at Shared Stitches pointed that out to me.

Yes, of course I tested the theory! Here you see the same thread and needle used upon some luscious Rbt Kaufman Radiance and my stitches are much much better-it was indeed the fabric.

This is a great case for using high quality fabrics-always!

Filed Under: Quilts and Art Quilts

Comments

  1. Bobbi Bullard says

    April 3, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    My feeling is that my marking pens all conspire to make us crazy. They sit in my drawer planning how best to thwart me next. I’ve found much of what you’ve said here. I have added a new four letter word to my list. The new word is Test.

  2. jennyklyon says

    April 3, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    I am relieved that someone with all of your experience agrees-sometimes it feels like it’s just me that these things happen to! The only reason I am so opinionated about the perils of marking is because of what I have experienced. If you find a good marking method, blog about it and let the whole world know! Yes, “test” is an important word!

  3. Laura Conowitch says

    April 3, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    Thanks so much for your follow up post Jenny! Testing is definitely a great idea and not a step to be skipped!

    • jennyklyon says

      April 3, 2012 at 11:07 pm

      I’ve certainly learned to test the hard way!

  4. Laura R says

    April 3, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    What an interesting and informative entry. You’ve certainly done your homework. Thanks for so generously sharing your results!
    xoxo

    • jennyklyon says

      April 3, 2012 at 11:08 pm

      Thank you!

  5. quirksltd says

    April 3, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    Makes me happy that I don’t do quilting that has to be marked. Avoidance is a very good solution to this problem!

    • jennyklyon says

      April 3, 2012 at 11:08 pm

      What a nice way to say it-“avoidance”….

  6. Becky Zsoka says

    April 3, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    Some things still need to be marked, so more info is good. My problem always seems to be how to get the markings to stay on the quilt long enough to get through the quilting process!

    Becky Z.

  7. jennyklyon says

    April 3, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    That’s what’s so vexing to me about marking-if the marks remove easily, well, they remove easily…before I want them to. If they stay around long enough to quilt it properly, they tend to stay forever. I still mark on occasion and try to use the best method for that particular project.

  8. Marcia Russell says

    April 3, 2012 at 11:14 pm

    Another great lesson from Jenny! I love the markers for the type of sewing I do making garments, but would be very disappointed if I marking show up on a quilt. I will think twice before using them on silk or wool that I don’t plan to wash. What happens with dry cleaning?

    • Marcia Russell says

      April 3, 2012 at 11:20 pm

      Oh oh! That didn’t come out right!! “I would be very disappointed if my marking showed on a quilt.” It must be time to get away from the computer screen when I can’t write a coherent sentence. ;-)

  9. jennyklyon says

    April 3, 2012 at 11:31 pm

    Hmmm-dry cleaning? Sounds like another Consumer Reports test I need to do. Good thought Marcia!

  10. Franki Kohler says

    April 5, 2012 at 11:53 pm

    Okay, so I’ve lived an utterly charmed life. I haven’t experienced the bloom issue you’ve discussed. I’m not using the brand you are though. And I do keep my marking to a minimum. I’ll do some testing (argh!) on my own. Thanks for the incredible lesson!

  11. jennyklyon says

    April 6, 2012 at 1:57 am

    Things seem to happen to me that don’t happen to others…. But it would have to get cold to bloom-what, you say you haven’t frozen your quilts lately??

  12. Luanne Chittenden says

    April 10, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    You aren’t alone Jenny, I have had all of the problems you mentioned with gel pens. I bought mine at Office Max which was very cost effective, but when I changed my mind about a design (something I do quite often) I had the whitish bleached line left after I ironed to erase. At least I had only drawn one line so far! I didn’t try washing the quilt to see if the white line disappeared after washing however. I’m pretty happy using the Sewline pencils for any marking that has to be done. I will add the caution, however, that I use only the yellow and white “leads” for the Sewline pencils because I’ve had trouble removing both the green and the pink if they were marked on white fabric. I haven’t tried the gray pencil-like colored leads though, have you or any of your readers tested them?

  13. jennyklyon says

    April 10, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    I generally don’t use pencils at all-just personal preference. Thanks for sharing your experience with these. I think the Frixion pens are great-just have to be used in specific situations. So many people are using them on everything and that’s my concern. I also think I need to do one more test-I hear now that they rebloom in cold again, even after washing! I haven’t tried the gray pencil like ones recently.

  14. jrp2001swp says

    May 16, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    O M Gosh … http://www.pilotpen.us/FriXion.aspx …. hmmm, there happens to be some ‘fine print’ that goes with “How to Use a Pen” !! Who Knew ?? Darn, I was really looking forward to getting a few of these, really thought I had found The Thing! Thanks for your research, Jenny ! Saved me big money, I think. :)

  15. jrp2001swp says

    May 16, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    Hmm … http://www.pilotpen.us/FriXion.aspx .. how about that, instructions on “How to Use a Pen” ! (see the VERY fine print at the bottom?) Who knew ?? Darn, I was soo looking forward to getting a few of these ~ really thought I had found The Thing. Thanks so much for your research Jenny .. I believe you saved me some Big Bucks! Keep up the good work :D

  16. jennyklyon says

    May 16, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    You’re welcome! The pens still are good if your quilt is just in your own home. And they don’t leave marks on all fabrics, just some. I wonder if the Pilot people are somewhat taken aback-I don’t think they intended this pen for use on quilts, us quilters just thought of it. Now they get this bad press over their pens being used in a way they never intended them to be used!

  17. Helen says

    September 4, 2012 at 11:30 pm

    On the wiggly lines – if the stitching is being done on the grain of the fabric you won’t have wobbles. So – cut on grain if you can.

  18. jennyklyon says

    September 5, 2012 at 1:10 am

    I’ll try that Helen-thanks!

Sign-up for Jenny’s weekly newsletter

Teaching at QuiltFest Virtual Schoolhouse 11
QuiltWeek
BERNINA Ambassador Badge round 150px

Categories

  • Articles
  • Dyeing
  • Garments
  • Guild Engagements
  • Home Dec
  • Learning
  • Life
  • My book
  • New studio
  • On Demand Class/Taping
  • Quilts and Art Quilts
  • Remodel
  • Shows
  • Teaching Free Motion Quilting
  • Tutorials
    • Basting a quilt with Misty Fuse
    • Blocking
    • Daisy Fill
    • Flutter Fill
    • Making and Applying a Quilt Hanging Sleeve
    • Narrow Rolled Hem
    • Squaring up your quilt
  • Virtual teaching

Tags

; Jenny K. Lyon; the Quiltskipper; art quilts Aurifil thread Basset-inChief Beading Carla Barrett CRAFT NAPA Cutwork Diane Gaudynski Elizabeth Barton Master Class Family Fine Fabrics of Santa Barbara Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild Show Free motion motifs Free Motion Quilting Free Motion Quilting Challenge free motion quilting on a domestic Garment sewing Houston 2015 Houston International Quilt Festival International Quilt Festival at Long Beach Jenny K. Lyon Lin Squires Meissner Sewing Pacific International Quilt Festival PIQF Quilt basting quilting Quilt Marking quilt shows Quiltskipper Radiance Fabric SAQA SAQA-Studio Art Quilt Associates SAQA Benefit Auction Saturday Night Sampler Start With a Square Superior Thread Teaching Free Motion Quilting The Quiltskipper Trapunto Tucson Whole Cloth Quilts working with sheers

 

 

LauraStar Ambassador badge

Facebook icon   Twitter icon   Instagram icon   Feedburner RSS icon   Feedburner Mail icon

Bernina Ambassador badge

[mailchimpsf_form]

© 2010–2025 Jenny K Lyon | Privacy | Terms of Use | Log In