SPRING BLOSSOM QUILT

One of my favorite signs of an immanent Spring is the many trees which burst into blossom around this time. First the fruitless pears become a froth of white and then the peach and prunus trees shower us in pink confetti.

This hexagon based quilt is appropriate for the season with its pink flowers backed by salmon colored sepals and buff colored connectors.

Although the crease patterns look complicated this is not a terribly difficult model to fold. Nor is it particularly time consuming, as modulars go. The example was designed and folded in a day.

When I get around to making Step Folds and a set of diagrams it should be within the reach of all but the novice folder.




The quilt follows my usual practice in having a carrier module (with the salmon colored sepals or outer petals), a central flower which is tucked inside the center of the carrier module and connecting units which are folded over the edges of the module and tucked firmly inside.

The model does not require glue and is quite sturdy. It sits flat because of the hexagonal shape of the basic modules.


I am currently working on a pentagonal variation which, of course, does not sit flat and will form itself into another in my series of flower balls.



The hexagons which form the carrier case and the flower are derived from a sheet of American Letter or A4 sized paper. See previous entries for links to instructions on how to make a hexagon from a sheet of copy paper. After folding, the bottom and top flaps are cut off to form the hexagon shape.


The connector units are derived from a similarly folded sheet which has been cut to size according to the pattern shown here. This time the bottom and top flaps are retained.

THE GLASSER QUILTS

Here are a couple more creations which continue the quilt theme as well as the practice of dedication.

These two quilts are dedicated to Keryn and Russell Glasser, a brother and sister team who broadcast thought-provoking material on public radio from Austin, Texas.

What specifically caught my ear was a discussion of American Patriotism as a national religion by Keryn ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2381042991154176179)
and a discussion of the disguised religion of Intelligent Design/Creationism by Russell (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1011757755784255698)

The content of these two videos is controversial and will no doubt disturb some of my blog followers. That, of course, is the hallmark of education which stimulates new learning and the development of fresh insights by challenging unexamined assumptions or poorly thought out ideas. If you cannot agree with the point of view presented by these two podcasters the material may help you to defend your position in the light of what may be a new perspective. If you like intellectual challenges then I would recommend these two podcasts.

The pink quilt is dedicated to Keryn Glasser and the orange and brown quilt is dedicated to Russell Glasser in appreciation of the thought provoking ideas which they present.

RED, CREAM & FAWN QUILT

I have been working on a quilt this last week. Like many of my designs, it grew out of another project. Something about the way I was connecting a kusudama set off an idea which I modified and followed.

While the model could theoretically be continued until it was huge, I stopped at a 4 x 4 quilt. By this time I was getting quite bored with the repetition involved. Now I know why I don't specialize in modulars and huge kusudamas with umpteen tiny parts.

I would rate this as an intermediate level project. The quilt is easy to fold but the flower buttons are a little tricky to slot into place. Not fiendish, just annoying. The model is very firm and will take quite a bit of handling. It will NOT fall apart.

Storing it posed a problem. What I needed for my projects were several large pizza-shaped boxes. Unfortunately you cannot buy nice blank ones anywhere unless you buy about a thousand of them at a time, pay for all the ones you don't want and for the postage as well (which is usually about as much as they charge for the boxes themselves.

I solved the problem by taking myself down to the local pizza palour, explaining the situation and asking, nicely, if I could please have 5 large pizza take out boxes with absolutely no pizzas in them. The woman helpfully found 5 such boxes, charged me a dollar and told me, on my way out, that I was not the only person who had come in looking for take out boxes for storing items. So there is an idea for others to try out.

The model is made up of several different sections. The apparently continuous background is a trick of the eye caused by some careful designing. It is achieved by inserting or connecting several red pieces to the cream and fawn pieces. One of the pieces is simply a small square which is inserted into a host piece. One piece slots inside another which hides the connections underneath. The red "button flower" was invented to hide the gaps left by the intersection pieces between the units.


I have included a "cutting diagram" which shows the number of pieces needed for a module, and their relative sizes. The one shown was made from pieces which were 6", 4.5", 4" and 2.25" (for Americans who cannot cope with decimals this translates as 6", 4-1/2", 4" and 2-1/4" respectively).







The next diagram shows the crease patterns for these pieces. Naturally, the inserted "floor" of the top unit has no creases. I have added it there to remind you that it exists. :-)


The partially completed model gives you some idea how it is constructed.

The last photo shows all the items needed to make two modules. As in my completed sample, I have exchanged the colors of the nested squares on the second module. This picture provides a little more information about how the pieces are assembled.

The large square is folded first. The four side connectors are attached next. A triangle point is inserted into a side which is then folded under. This secures the connector to the square.

The connection is strengthened when the sides of the corner squares are turned under, and again, when the smaller square, with its added red floor, is slotted into these "picture corners". The connectors are shown upside down (revealing the pre-folding pattern) as well as the right way up for insertion into the carrying square. One piece is shown connected. Another is shown ready to insert.

Finally, cover the holes at the intersection points by carefully persuading the reluctant points of the flower button to slide under the edges of the corners of the surrounding squares. Cuss if it helps. I simply use a kitchen skewer and the discarded handle piece of those plastic milk bottles.

You can sometimes find the latter implement in the bottoms of the milk refrigerator in supermarkets. If the store takes its cleaning seriously you may have to ask the store manager or the milk department to save you some. At least some of the bottles arrive at the supermarket outlet with this molded piece still attached to the handle. The store generally pokes them out because the customer cannot otherwise pick up the bottle by the handle.

ANOTHER TYPE OF PAPER CONNECTION

Here is a sample of another type of paper connection. It is similar to, but different from, a recent model in this blog.

I intend to post a crease pattern for the units some time soon. Unfortunately, the Silly Season is eating into my blog preparation. I promise only that you will get them when I post them.

The unit connections are sturdy, reasonably quick and decorative. The main failing is that instructions for the unit connections will not be easy to diagram. I am not looking forward to that task.



In cases like these, access to a 3-D version of the units and a 3-D example of connected units would probably be much easier to follow than traditional diagrams.

"Step folds" are another good way of showing how the method is done. As some of you already know, I arrive at conventions with "teaching boxes" containing sets of step folds which can be turned over and around by the student folder. According to the feedback I receive, these are quite useful.

It is possible that a good video clip would explain the method as well. Unfortunately these are time consuming and hard to develop. There is no shortage of excellent examples of horrific how-to-fold videos on the net. They suffer from a variety of problems including distracting backgrounds, bad choice of table top or cloth, poor illumination, poor framing of object, object partially or totally out of range of the camera, object too small or too large, angle of view unhelpful or confusing, annoying sound or music, inadequate, inappropriate or unnecessary verbal instructions and colors which are garish or insufficiently contrastive for the medium.

Exceptions, such as instructional videos made by Michael La Fosse, are a joy to watch. I am under no illusion that countering the usual problems takes quite a lot of time and effort and probably the presence of good video equipment, expensive lighting and a suitable uncluttered space. I would have a hard time matching such expertise but one day I might try.

FAUX QUILT

I have been experimenting with the weaving grid and have come up with a kind of faux origami quilt.

I began by making the subsections and then connected them into long strips. Then I began weaving and twisting.



It was not long before I became hopelessly tangled and twisted. The solution was to remove all the dangling bits which were not necessary for the next step. This is making it easier.



In general, twisting the pieces together is not easy. The paper (cheap 20lb copy paper)is too bulky and not strong enough to cope with a lot of folding and upfolding. Some of it is getting a little thin. Very little of it is ending up with the same crisp folds with which I began the project. Some units are definitely a little crumpled around the edges.



I have been utilizing mini "dog clips" to clamp selected folds together while I arrange the folds prior to twisting. The clips work well but my arthritic hands find them difficult to squeeze and un-squeeze.

I think the piece would benefit from thinner prettier and sturdier paper. At the moment it suffers from the constraints of cost as well as the usual pitfalls of developing a new model and method of folding.

This is definitely not a fast method of paper connection. The benefit is that the intrepid (and arguably insane) folder can end up with a multi-colored flat piece of decorative origami of theoretically endless dimensions. As with any kind of quilting or pieced work, patterns and "pixel art" can be worked into the decorative sheet: all it takes is a little planning.