Sheila Waterfield of Leicester, England essentially started Creative Grids® in 1989. The family owned business at the time involved plastics. She realized that the scraps from the plastics company could be turned into templates for her quilting friends. Soon the Waterfield's had developed a variety of quilting templates.Sheila decided to print in black and white so the quilter could distinguish measurements and markings on light and dark fabrics. She then invented the opaque, non-slip grip that sets Creative Grids® rulers apart from all others. When her daughter Rachel Cross took over designing the rulers, the revolutionary Turn-a-Round feature was added.