Quilt30,
I normally am very protective of my IP, but with this going into my guild show (where there are no measures whatsoever taken to protect copyrights) I'll probably just add it to GNU as copyleft. But right now it's still in progress & I'm not comfortable sharing designs I'm still working on. I think I'm going to try to do my Art Deco-inspired design. It's sort of like a cathedral window design. The colored parts will be mostly quilted with filler -- but I'm thinking about adding motifs in some of them. It's just applique & quilting (I detest piecing work).

I'm just not good enough to be able to visualize how something small will look on a larger scale. So I'm trying to figure out whether (1) graph tracing paper would be more helpful because it would give me landmarks to ensure consistency in my design's shapes & sizes or whether it would be more confusing with all the extra lines possibly distracting from the design, (2) if there is any benefit to using a color other than white, (3) if a certain weight of vellum is too thin & prone to tearing or too thick & difficult to see through, (4) if rolls are better than sheets. I saw an online teacher who designed with tracing paper & thought I'd give it a try; I had no idea there were so many different kinds of tracing paper out there.

Bree there is old-fashioned tracing paper called Saral. it comes in several colors in the pack which might help you in designing your block. Saral is usually carried at quilt shops.

Saral is not tracing paper it is a transfer paper. Like old fashioned carbon paper but safe to use on fabric because it washes out and is wax free. I have only used the graphite and the white and have had good luck with it.

Hmm, unless I'm mistaken, it sounds like your designs currently exist in a smaller or thumbnail-sketch form* — which would mean you might not need tracing paper. Simply enlarging your designs to a 1:1 scale wouldn't require tracing.

That said, I've found that I prefer lighter-weight tracing paper over medium weight. The heavier weights tend to have a toothier texture which doesn't help keep pencil lines sharp and smudge free. Also, if you're using a lot, a roll will give you better value than a pad of individual sheets. I've used Bee Paper (available on Amazon), and I know that some people even order those rolls of paper used in the doctor's office on the exam tables.

* If your designs are digital, then my suggestion is to make an actual-size mock. Scale them up on the computer until they are 1:1 scale (actual size), and then print the design at 100%, tiled across as many pages as you need. Some printers or programs allow you to customize how much overlap you need across each sheet of paper; this is a helpful feature because most printers can't print full bleed (edge-to-edge). Once printed, you just cut off the white margins (where the printer was unable to print), and then use the overlap to match everything together.

Years ago I used an opak projector from hobby lobby to enlarge designs.

If you just want to see it in a bigger size, then take your original to an Office supply, like Staples or Office Depot and ask them to enlarge it to the 24x36 inch size. I think that's the biggest paper they have. The last time I did this was a couple of years ago, and it costs about 3 dollars. Probably more now.