Math Inspired Quilts
Gerda de Vries, a quilter and mathematician at U. Alberta, Canada, recently said in a seminar at the Redpath Museum in Montreal, “The connection between textiles and mathematics is intimate but not often explored, possibly because textiles and fiber arts have traditionally been the domain of women while mathematics was viewed as a male endeavor. How times have changed ! Today, textiles and mathematics, like art and science, are recognized for their interwoven, complementary attributes.” Shown below is Gerda’s quilt, Fibrations. Gerda’s excellent choice and placement of color creates the illusion of hills and valleys as well as shimmering rays of light.
Fibrations, by Gerda de Vries
Abby Lippman, an epidemiology professor at McGill, Montreal researches activities in which women engaged in complicated and ingenious ways of mathematics, and how they never received appropriate credit for this.
“One of my favorite examples was how the calculations involved in knitting the heel of a sock so it turned properly were almost the same as those used in metalwork to devise the “U” shape needed in a drain to allow material to flow smoothly.
Do you enjoy making math inspired quilts that are pieced and color controlled, as in prisms, symmetry, fractals, algorithms? Sarah Mylchreest and Mark Newbold have graciously provided the pattern and several examples of their one-of-a-kind A Piece of Hyperspace art quilt.
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Sally and Mark’s website called dogfeathers has the pattern to download and print in 16 section, in 2 versions, with and without shadows.
The quilt makers for the 4 versions of Hyperspace shown above are, L to R, Rows 1 & 2, Sheri Rowland, Tom Pensyl, Connie Green, and the original A Piece of Hyperspace, by Sally and Mark.
Here’s how Hyperspace looks in diagram form:
Hyperspace quilt pattern
