Tip #7 Grids

I recently had a question from Pamela, a BlockFab user.

"What is the "6 grid" referring to under the block name? I have seen 3, 4 etc. grid in the patterns."

Good question. Since BlockFab doesn't explain the grid, I'll try and cover it here.


Quoting from Jinny Beyer's new book, The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns:

"Most designs are based on grids made up of equal-sized squares."

Here is a link for her new book (I really love it as a reference tool -- I used it to verify block information in BlockFab.):

http://www.connectingthreads.com/books/The_Quilters_Album_of_Patchwork_Patterns__D45081.html

So a Four-Patch block has a 2x2 grid, because there are 2 equal-sized divisions on each side of the block.

Jinny Beyer and other quilters use this system to categorize blocks so they can be grouped together in reference books. Grids are also needed when drafting many blocks. But drafting is another topic for another time.

The grid is also helpful when using different blocks that will appear side-by-side in a quilt. So if you are pairing blocks, the grid gives an idea of how well 2 blocks will "match up".
For example, if you have a Monkey Wrench (5x5 grid) next to an Ohio Star (3x3 grid), it looks like you did a poor job of piecing!


If you'd like to learn more about how grids are used by quilters, here are a couple links you may find useful:

http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/grids.htm

http://www.quilt.com/HowTo/Drafting.html

Thanks for the question, Pamela!