There are many different tools available for marking seam lines and cutting lines for marking quilting patterns, but my all-time favorite is just a plain old mechanical pencil. It always has a sharp point, doesn't require a sharpener to keep on hand, and makes a line that is just dark enough to see what I'm doing but doesn't smear the way an ordinary pencil line would. I've tried many kinds of markers; yellow wax pencil, white art pencil, chalk, soapstone, blue washable marker, disappearing markers and soft lead art pencil, and none of them were satisfactory, usually producing a thick line that could throw off the width measurement of the seam allowance.
One other marker that I found useful was a white gel pen that I used for marking on dark fabrics. It, too, made a thin line, and was easy to use when marking next to a ruler for making seam allowances, or when making placment marks for applique. Both types of markers, the gel pen and mechanical pencil, washed out of the fabric without any problems; that was another problem with some of the other markers, in that the lines wouldn't wash out. These are simple tools to use to make my quilting time easy and enjoyable. Edey
