Graph Paper?

Graph paper is one of my favorite quilting tools.  I like to sketch quilt designs on graph paper rather than plain paper because it's easier for me to make the pieces fit!  Sometimes I just sketch with a pencil.  If I want to see how colors work together I use colored pencils to color the designs and get  a better idea of how the pieces will fit together.

Sometimes I'm not designing a quilt but am working on someone else's quilt and want to sketch out custom quilting so I sketch their quilt top and work on my stitching design.

The other day I stopped in at the teachers' store to pick up a few things for school and I found some dry erase boards with a grid on them.  The 1 cm grid is very nice for sketching quilt blocks and border designs.  I bought a couple of them and a supply of fine and medium tipped markers of various colors.

When I started to play with these boards I realized I had a problem.  If I liked a sketch and wanted to keep it , I couldn't just slip it into a binder!!!  It took me a minute but I figured it out ..... I can take a picture of the board and save the photograph!!!

I'm having fun playing with the dry erase boards but I am not ready to give up my good old graph paper.  You have to be careful with the dry erase boards because any contact with the surface erases the image.  I can carry my graph paper in a folder or notebook and doodle, design and color where ever I go (even while sitting through a school board meeting)!

Happy Quilting,
Laurel