Buckeye Rose

I purchased a panel that had pre-printed practice lines for fmq from LQS over a year ago. I found it again yesterday amidst the piles of scraps in my sewing room and thought "why not?". I sandwiched it and did all the stitching, learning a few things along the way. I found I do not like close patterns as it makes the quilt too stiff for my liking. I also found that following a line while trying to keep my stitches even is not as easy as it looks. But I got it done and thought that it looked good enough to give as a gift. So I put on the binding and tossed into the washer (warm water, normal detergent) to get rid of the glue used for basting and for the pre-printed lines to wash out (LQS said the lines would wash out). Took it out of the washer to find that the glue is gone, the marker I used to do my own thing is gone.....but the pre-printed lines are still there! Hmmmmm.....tossed it back in the washer, this time hot water and detergent.....still there. I realize that there is probably nothing I can do to get rid of the lines, but let this serve as a warning to anyone else buying these practice panels.....Make sure the lines will wash out before purchase because regardless of how well you can stay on the line, they still show through!

Tartan

Bummer!!!

Boston1954

I am sorry to hear that it did not work out the way you thought it would. I have had some experiences in the 21 years that I have been quilting, which turned out to be lessons learned. At least you did get to do some stitching. I did some on my little Brother SQ9000 a couple of years ago, just for fun, and found out that I would have to practice for about a decade before I could be any good at fmq. :-)

feline fanatic

I think your mistake was using warm water, then hot. You most likely set those pre-printed lines with the heat from the water. Heat sets them! This is why you need to be careful exposing them to heat and never, ever iron. Some detergents set them too. Always, always wash preprinted panels (such as whole cloths, etc) and anything you marked with blue water soluble marker in COLD water with NO detergent. 9 times out of 10 that gets everything out. So sorry about learning this lesson the hard way.

Edited to add, what kind of batting did you use? Very close stitching plus warm and Natural batting does make for a stiffer quilt. But dense quilting done with other battings such as Hobbs wool, Hobb's heirloom, Hobbs polydown does not. Quilter's dream tends to not stiffen up either. W&N does tend to get stiff with dense quilting, as does not traditional battings like a wool blanket.

Quiltngolfer

I read about those panels a while back. The manufacturer said that they did not currently have the technology to make those lines go away. I have two of the panels to try myself. They would make a good pet blanket, or maybe put a pretty fabric on the back for a picnic quilt. They would also make a good play quilt for kids to use in the yard or floor. I'm sorry you were told they would disappear, but at least you learned from using them.

Holice

Will you describe the panel. If I know the source or design I may be able to give some suggestions. If you don't want to name names, then message me privately. I will give some generic suggestions openly on the board. It is necessary to have a good description to give informed answers.

Nammie to 7

I have one of those panels also but was never under the impression that the lines would disappear. So many people wash their fabric before using and if that was the case you would end up with a blank piece of fabric.

mighty

Wow how sad, thank you for the heads up!

RedGarnet222

I would be tempted to dye it to a blue quilt.

tessagin

Practice panels are never a guarantee for anything. Really never know what you're going to get. If you didn't pay much for it then I wouldn't worry about it. Would never give practice panel as a gift. I would just keep it for practice!