Bohin Quilt Marking Tool

Simply the coolest, greatest, most awesome new item found at International Quilt Festival in Houston. This mechanical quilt marking pencil by Bohin, a French Company, will revolutionize marking tools. My friend, Mary C., and I came upon their small booth because she was looking for hand applique needles for a class. Bohin is a noted needle maker. While we were there, we watched a demonstration of the new marking pencil. The 'leads', which are actually colored chalk, come in yellow, gray, and white. They are interchangeable, just like a mechanical pencil. I used them to mark this block on the Hawks Aloft raffle quilt, which will be awarded on Dec. 8, tomorrow evening. The lines are clear, easy to see when stitching, and not messy. Like other mechanical pencils there is uniformity in width. In the above photo, I did not remove the marking so that you could see just how wonderfully well it works. Check it out yourself. The pencil comes with white chalk, but you can buy refills. I have not tried the other colors yet, but the white showed well on this busy red print. As I understand it from the company you can remove one chalk and replace it with another, while still saving the first chalk for another use. It retails for about $13.00.