Draw a Barn Quilt Grid at the Right Size

Every pattern in the shop prints as a square panel, and its internal grid scales with the width you choose in the Barn Quilt Planner. This guide explains how that scaling works so the printed size matches what you expect on the board.

How the grid relates to panel width

Each pattern has a fixed number of grid divisions across its width: Prairie Compass uses a 4-block grid, Harvest Weave a 6-block grid, and Four Winds a 2-block grid. North Star is not a simple grid; it is a star shape built from 16 points, referenced against 20 measurement units across the panel width. In every case, one grid unit's real size is the panel width divided by that count.

Worked example: Prairie Compass

At the default 24 inch width, each of Prairie Compass's 4 blocks is 24 divided by 4, or 6 inches square. At the maximum 48 inch width, each block grows to 48 divided by 4, or 12 inches square. The block count never changes; only the size of each block does.

Worked example: North Star

At the default 24 inch width, North Star's reference unit is 24 divided by 20, or 1.2 inches. At 48 inches, that reference unit becomes 48 divided by 20, or 2.4 inches. This unit sets the scale of the star's facets; it is not a grid you draw as squares.

Border

The open border around North Star, and the edge treatment of the other patterns, is part of each pattern's fixed design. It is not a separate margin you set independently; changing the panel width scales the whole pattern, border included, without distorting its proportions.

Checking your numbers

Your downloaded pattern notes (JSON and plain text) record the exact grid count, cell size, and page layout used for your chosen width, so you can double-check any measurement against the file itself rather than estimating from the preview. See North Star or Prairie Compass to try these numbers in the planner.