Product Review: Taylor Seville Magic White Marking Pen

I’m almost always game to try a new-to-me product with the goal of improving my efficiency which is code for finishing the quilt FASTER so I can move on to the next one.

I’m a sucker for quilting notions, and I have purchased a few new-to-me items over the last few years. Cindy and I went shopping at a local quilt shop the last week of December and were delighted to find that the notions were 30% off—a great after-Christmas bonus for us. I spent some time at their notion wall and saw this product:

This is the Taylor Seville Magic White Marking Pen. I am especially interested in marking tools to help me with quilting the quilt, whether by free motion or my embroidery module. And I may take up hand quilting again, but I’m not counting on it. 

I used the pen to mark the setting triangles of the Down & Dirty Civil War Repro quilt with x and y axis lines to help me with hooping the setting triangles and quilt the orange peel motif that I digitized in Embrilliance StitchArtist 1. 

When I removed the pen cap, an excess amount of the marking liquid spilled onto the triangle I was working on. 

I didn’t worry about it; I just drew my lines. The lines appeared quickly and were very distinct. The pen tip is similar to a fine felt tip marker.

I quilted all of the triangles, but waited until the next day to remove the markings. The packaging states that the markings are removed by applying a damp cloth. My go-to for removing marks that are water soluble is to use an artist paint brush to apply the water; it’s a neater method and typically works for me. I went around the perimeter of the quilt applying the water. At first it seemed that the lines were disappearing, but they quickly returned. After three passes of reapplying the water, I decided to try the damp cloth method.

Damp means different degrees of saturation to different minds, if you will, and while in the past I would start with less damp and work my way through to sopping wet, I started with sopping wet. And the lines returned again.

I went to the manufacturer’s website to find more detailed instructions. Nope. I used their contact form to ask what was the secret sauce. That was Thursday, March 6, and I have not received a reply (and yes, I frequently review my spam folder). 

At that point, the objective of being more efficient and finishing this quilt faster was defeated. ☹️ 

Also, I had attached the binding to the front of the quilt. I like to press the binding out, then press it over and glue down the binding to the back side, which speeds up the process of hand stitching the binding to the back. I couldn’t do that because I was worried I would heat set those blasted lines and they would be there forever.  

Friday afternoon, March 7, when I decided I could no longer wait for a reply from the manufacturer, I wetted a toothbrush head, put a drop of Dawn on it, and scrubbed the lines on a corner triangle; rinsed, and waited. I timed it at 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes. The lines did not return. I finished attaching the binding by hand, then scrubbed the remaining triangles, put the quilt in the washing machine on a cold delicate cycle, prayed, ran it through another rinse cycle, prayed some more, and finally pulled it out of the washer. So far, so good. I put it in the dryer on delicate cycle and when I took it out, the lines had not returned. Phew. 

And a month later, no, I have not yet received a response from the manufacturer. 

Now, I’m fully aware that I should have tested the pen prior to marking all the lines. Honestly, I normally do so—but I was in a hurry (isn’t that always the way it is?), and thought it would be fine. That’s on me. Will I use this pen again? I won’t on the right side of a quilt top, that’s for sure. I can see using it to mark something on the wrong side of fabric that will eventually be hidden in a seam. Buyer beware!

This morning, I had the idea that if the website permitted it, I would post a review of the pen. Lo and behold, the product has been removed from the website and now they have a new marking system! I’ll let someone else take that bait.

So if you have this product sitting in your studio and haven’t tried it, please consider my review. If you decide to use it, I hope you have better luck with it. I fully appreciated the visibility of the lines, but I did not enjoy scrubbing every one of the triangles. 

I’m off to Katrina’s this afternoon to quilt the Tattoo quilt and go to a quilt show! We will return to our regular programming soon. In the meantime, go make!