Drafting for the Creative Quilter

GRID-BASEDBLOCkS 17

into Any Size Grid How to Draft Any Size Square

Sometimes the size of the block you want or need will not be easily divisible by the grid of the block design. For

example, to draft a 6 ̋ Bear’s Paw block, which is a 7 × 7 grid formation, you need to divide a 6 ̋ square by 7. On a

calculator, 6 ÷ 7 = 0.857, which is not a ruler-friendly number and which, unless you have 7-to-the-inch graph paper,

is challenging to draft accurately. The following, long-standing technique drafts any size square into any size grid.

The size of your square does not need to be a whole number (12 ̋, 8 ̋, etc.); it can be any size you wish (113/8 ̋, 75/8 ̋,

9 3/ 16 ̋, etc.).

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You can use plain or graph paper for this technique;

however, I always use 8-to-the-inch graph paper.

Although the drawn grid lines will not usually be on

the blue graph paper lines, I use the graph paper lines

in concert with the horizontal and vertical red lines

of the C-Thru ruler to ensure that the grid lines I draw

are exactly straight (the red line grid of the ruler is

also in eighths). This drafting technique is simple in

theory, but great care must be taken to ensure that all

drawn grid lines are straight, accurate, and at a per-

fect right angle to the square’s top and bottom lines.

If they are not straight, the individual squares within

the grid will not all be the same size or shape. Step 5

explains in detail how I use the C-Thru ruler and graph

paper together.

1. Draw the size square you desire (in this case, 6 ̋ × 6 ̋)
   on 8-to-the-inch graph paper. Label the 4 corners 1, 2,
   3, and 4.


2. Find a measurement on your ruler that is larger than
   the block size and divisible by 7 (the number of equal
   divisions across and down). That would be the 7 ̋ mark
   on your ruler. Seven is divisible by 7 and is larger than
   the 6 ̋ block you chose (7 ̋ ÷ 7 = 1 ̋).


3. Position the corner of your ruler on the left bottom
   corner (#1) of your 6 ̋ × 6 ̋ square. Angle the ruler up
   until the 7 ̋ mark on the ruler is exactly on the right side
   line of the 6 ̋ square.

6 ̋

6 ̋

3

1 2

4

1

2

3

4

5

6

8

9

7

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„ Another option is to place the 1 ̋ mark of the ruler

in the corner and add 1 ̋ to the number placed on the

right side line of the square (8 ̋). If you employ this

option, do not forget to add the 1 ̋ to the number on

the right side.

„ If the number you need does not fit on the square,

just extend the right edge line up to allow the ruler to

reach the desired number. For example a 9 ̋ block ÷ 7

= 1.2857. The next whole number evenly divisible by 7

is 14. 14 ÷ 7 = 2. Mark every 2 ̋, and then draw vertical

grid lines. When you rotate the paper to get the hori-

zontal lines, extend the right edge line again.

4

1

2

3

4

5

67

8

9

10

11

12

13

15

3 9 ̋

9 ̋

1 2

14

Extending right edge line