There are many ways to mark your quilt when you are ready to quilt it. If I am coming up with my own free hand design, I often use Pilot FriXion erasable pens. The ink disappears once you press it with your iron. Just be careful to test it on a small swatch as it may leave a white line afterwards when used on dark-colored fabrics. I also like using these pens when I mark quilts with stencils. I have not yet used chalk with the Quilt Pounce Pad, but some of my friends have had a lot of good luck with it.
If the design is complex and it will be used on various blocks, you can also trace it onto a piece of Golden Threads quilting paper, then cut and stack the papers for all the other blocks under the one you just traced, take the stack to the sewing machine and ‘stitch’ on all the lines without any thread (top nor bobbin), thus transferring the design to all other pieces of paper at once. You are now ready to pin the papers with the design to each block, quilt, then easily remove the paper (I like Golden Threads paper because it is thin enough to be easily removed, yet sturdy so as not to rip as you are stitching onto it).
One product I use a lot, particularly to quilt borders, is Borders Made Easy. The rolls come with glue strips on the top and the bottom for fast application. Once you have stitched the design, just rip the paper out and you are done. The length of the stitches will not affect the ease with which you remove the paper; however, I find that when I quilt with a longer length I need to be a bit more careful with the paper later. The border above was stitched at 3.0 length, and the only thing I had to do is occasionally smooth the stitches out if I pulled on the paper a little bit too hard. Depending on the design you choose, the walking foot will be a perfect choice, as shown above.
If you have never used this product, you may want to give it a try. They have designs which can be used to quilt the entire quilt top (I have used them on wall-hangings, too), although the border rolls are my favorite!
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