Quilt graph paper generator

Graph paper generator

Print graph paper

Print at 100% (“actual size” in most print dialogs; turn off “fit to page” and “shrink oversized pages”). Then lay a ruler on the 1-inch square in the corner. If it isn't exactly 1 inch, the printer scaled the sheet and every square on it is off by the same amount. The grid fills a 7½ × 10 inch area, which leaves room for the margins most home printers need on Letter paper.

Which grid to use

Square grid. The everyday choice for straight-set quilts. Let one square stand for 1, 2 or 3 inches of the quilt, sketch the blocks, and count. A ¼-inch grid with a heavier line every 4 squares gives you an inch grid with quarter-inch steps, which is handy for drawing a block at full size before you trust a pattern. A 1-inch grid is good for coloring a 9-patch or 16-patch layout with markers.

On-point grid. The same squares turned 45 degrees. Use it to plan quilts with blocks set on point, Trip Around the World layouts, or any design where the blocks march diagonally. Drawing an on-point layout on ordinary square paper means drawing every diagonal by hand; here the diagonals are the grid. The setting triangles fall naturally along the edge of the page, so you can see how many you need.

Hexagon grid. For English paper piecing and other hexagon quilts. Color a grandmother's flower garden, count rosettes, or plan where one fabric changes to the next. The size you pick is the side of each hexagon, the same way paper piecing papers are sold.

60-degree triangle grid. Equilateral triangles in rows. Pairs of triangles make 60-degree diamonds; three diamonds make a tumbling block; six triangles make a hexagon. This is the grid for triangle quilts, six-pointed stars and anything cut with a 60-degree ruler.

The measurements behind each grid

On a Letter page the ¼-inch square grid holds 30 × 34 squares and the 1-inch grid holds 7 × 8. A ½-inch hexagon grid holds 88 whole hexagons. Only whole hexagons are drawn, so the grid stops short of the edges instead of leaving half shapes you can't count.

Drawing a quilt on graph paper

1. Decide the scale first and write it at the top: “1 square = 2 inches.” Choose a scale where your block size is a whole number of squares. A 12-inch block is 6 squares at 2 inches a square, or 4 squares at 3 inches.
2. Draw the outline of the finished quilt, then the blocks, then any sashing and borders. If the quilt is too big for one page, tape two sheets together; the grids line up because they print at true size.
3. Color with pencils, not markers, until you're sure. Gray graph lines stay visible under colored pencil without competing with it.
4. Count from the drawing: blocks of each color, sashing strips, cornerstones. Then turn the counts into cuts with the block count calculator and the fabric yield calculator.

To draft a block at full size, use the ¼-inch grid with heavy lines every 4 squares. Draw the finished block on the heavy inch lines, add the ¼-inch seam allowance around each patch one small square out, and you have a cutting template you can check with a ruler. The block resizer gives cut sizes for common blocks if you'd rather not draft them.

Tips and common mistakes

• Printer scaling is the usual problem. Many printers shrink a page a few percent unless you tell them not to. That doesn't matter for sketching but it matters a lot if you trace a full-size block. Measure the check square every time you change printers or browsers.
• Use the SVG for a cutting machine or a drawing program. The file is drawn in real inches, so it opens at its true size and you can scale it on purpose, not by accident.
• Pick light blue lines when you want the grid to stay in the background behind dark pencil, and black when you plan to photocopy the blank sheet; fine gray lines can fade on a copier.
• For the hexagon grid, match the side length to your papers. A sketch on ½-inch hexagons can stand for a quilt of 1-inch hexagons at half scale; just write that down so nobody counts the wrong thing later.
• The heavier line count runs from the top left corner of the grid. If you want blocks to start on a heavy line, line them up there.

Hexagon and triangle quilts need templates as well as a plan. The hexagon template generator prints paper piecing papers at the same sizes, and the English paper piecing guide shows how to baste and join them. For a printable project worksheet and a layout grid that matches your block count, see the printable quilt planner.

You might also like

• Hexagon template generatorTrue-size hexagon sheets for paper piecing, with a count and fabric calculator for rosettes and whole quilts.
• Curved and 60-degree template generatorTrue-size templates for drunkard's path, orange peel, clamshell, apple core, triangles, diamonds and tumbling blocks.
• Half-square triangle calculatorCut sizes for half-square triangles, hourglass units and flying geese, by method.
• Setting triangle calculator for on-point quiltsSide and corner triangle cuts, counts and finished size for blocks set on point.