I do use graph paper- generally just to keep a quilt within the size parameters I want *otherwise they turn out 15 feet long!* but I have found that the finished quilt seldom turns out anything like what I may have sketched/used for blocks- so the graph paper is just so I make what i'm doing fit inside the borders. beyond that sometimes I start with an idea, may sketch some layout ideas * again- the finished quilt never looks anything like what I sketched, but the layout may somewhat*~~ I (wasted) oodles of money on design software I never use- got nowhere with ~~ I generally after playing with graph paper & sketches- just start with my fabrics- decide what fabrics I want to make a quilt out of - lay them out & start 'playing' around- often on the floor- lay out some focus/main fabrics, decide what blocks I might want to add around or with them- pull coordinates- and just start sewing, measuring, figuring out what to do next to make things fit. sometimes starting with a panel or some sort of 'picture' blocks as a starting point will help you get the idea of just moving stuff around, playing with it till you like what you have- and when I have the dimensions figured out with the graph paper the 'planned baby quilt' doesn't turn out to be king sized- or the queen sized quilt doesn't wind up being a table topper.
