Frixion Pen

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your wonderfully kind words on my quilt yesterday!  They are greatly appreciated!  I only have time for a quick note today.  I have a meeting at 8 am and am teaching until 9 pm tonight.  Thursdays are always really hard days for me....running from one thing to the next.

When I posted my hand stitcheries the other day, I meant to ask you all if you had heard of or tried these new pens yet.  They are called Frixion pens, and they are made by Pilot.  I got mine at the quilt store, but I believe you can get them at your local office supply store as well.

• They have erasable ink in them.
• They come in a multitude of different colors.
• You can write on them on fabric, and the instant you touch the ink with an iron, the marks completely disappear!

I have taken to using these to draw my stitching lines on my embroidery projects and to mark the dots on my fabric for matching up pieces (like on the quilt I posted yesterday).  I am sure I will be using it for my machine embroidery, too.  The ink truly disappears when you touch it with an iron.  I like this a little better than the disappearing in pens, because (a) the tip is finer and it makes a nice, fine line; (b) it's easier to see than the blue/purple ink; (c) it comes in a multitude of colors so you can pick one that will show up on your fabric; and (d) I've accidentally touched the purple/blue marker ink with my iron before and then I cannot get it out of the fabric.  For me, this new Frision pen is another great tool to have in my toolbox.

Now, I suppose if your'e a purist, you might say that the chemicals might still be in the fabric and could show up some 20 or 30 years later (i.e., as yellow spots).  That might be true.  They haven't been around long enough to know.  I know purists will only use pencil or chalk, because they know it's safe.  But I do wash my pieces when they are done, so I would think that would take the chemicals out of hte fabric.  I don't know.  I am not a purist.  (Nothing wrong with it if you are!)

EDITED NOTE:  One of my commenters (see Barbara below) noted that she's seen a review of this pen that showed some limitations and concerns.  She found the URL and sent it to me.  The blog post was made by The Quilting Climber, and you can read it here.

I just thought you might like to know about these, if you haven't heard of them already.

Have a great day!  Rainy and thunderstorms here today, but it's supposed to be warm again, so no complaints from me!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Comments

[sisLH]

When I was sorting yesterday, I found 5 embroidery squares that I could barely make out anymore. Now I will go over the lines with one of these pens. Thanks!

[Candice]

I love these pens! I picked up a set of seven or so at Quilt Market last Fall and they have really saved the day on multiple occasions! ;)

[terriaw]

I've heard of those pens, but have never seen them or knew much about them. Sounds like a great tool to have in your notions stash!

[Linda in Calif.]

I've been using the purple/blue disappearing ink pen and really loving it. Well, for the quilting anyway. I would not want to iron after quilting - way too much work. I was thinking about these pens, I had seen them a couple years ago and couldn't remember the name. Thanks for reminding me.

[Barbara]

Other people have reported that the marks from these pens come back if the fabric gets cold enough.

[Allie]

MAN that's a long day. Yes, I use the Frixion pens, but only for white fabric from here on out. I drew some stitching lines on the green quilt, ironed them, and it left white lines behind...like it bleached the fabric or something. This quilt is making me NUTS, lol. Hope you didn't have any tornadoes girl!

[Deb]

I ordered some of these the other day! Sounds like I'll need to test them a bit before using them but thanks for the words of encouragement - marking a quilt is the quilting step I hate most.