Drawing a Grid

Ready to get started?  I know I am!  Since I've decided to do a 5 x 5 grid, I wanted to start by getting my grid on my fabric. (A word about the fabric: you can of course stitch on anything you like!  I'm stitching on a linen fabric that I bought in a package at Hobby Lobby on the needlecraft aisle.  I love this linen -- everything seems to look good on it and it is easy to work with -- but it was expensive, around $24 I think.  The good news is that the piece in the package is huge, enough for several projects!  But it you're headed to HL to look for this linen, bring a coupon!)

For those of you who haven't done this before, here is a very simple little trick that I learned from Amy Powers when I did her 39 Squares Project.  Now, I'm sure the experts out there are cringing at the simple method I'm about to show you, AND about the fact that I'm using pencil.  But hey, this is supposed to be fun, not perfect, and I've discovered that pencil actually works great for me.  So, the moral of the story is: do what works for you and have fun!

All you need to make your grid is a ruler (a 1-inch wide ruler if you want 1-inch squares) and a pencil.  Using the ruler as a straightedge, sketch the top line of your grid.  Then simply draw another line along the bottom of the ruler, and now you have your first 1-inch row.

After you've drawn 6 lines (to make 5 rows), turn your ruler the other way and repeat, to create your vertical columns. 

Don't be afraid of the pencil -- you can always erase a stray mark (just be sure to use a white eraser, and not a pink one).

In the end, you will have your 5 x 5 grid (or whatever size you choose) of little 1-inch squares!

I'm pretty excited about this little grid because it seems so do-able! It's a nice, small, manageable size.

So, there you have it. I hope this helped those of you who hadn't done a grid like this before. 

Now I need to decide whether I'm going to stitch all the outlines first, or do one square at a time..... Hmmm.... still not sure.  I'll be back soon with a stitching update and with some fun vintage items for inspiration!

Happy Stitching!