Geometric Quilts

by Mary Beth Krapil

I saw quite a few quilts at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this year that were strikingly geometric. I know from my teaching travels and interacting with thousands of quilters all over the world, that quilters are not fond of math. But there is no getting around it. Math and Geometry play a huge part in quilts. Math is how we arrive at the beauty. Maybe you remember my post from a while back, Math or Art?  The more you know about the math behind the quilt, the better your quilts might become. There is a great post on the Quilt Pro blog about 3D quilts and understanding the concept of three dimensions (a little more math).

Or, maybe you just want to enjoy making and viewing quilts and let someone else worry about the math. So here are some markedly geometric quilts that I enjoyed. Maybe you will too. Many come from a Retrospective of Classical Quilts in a Modern Style by Brigitte Morgenroth.

The first quilt is a favorite tessellation. The name, Never Again – Or Maybe?, stems from Brigitte’s struggle with working with seven layers of fabric.

In the next example, I love how Brigitte used different sized triangles together. The same simple shape but differing sizes created motion in this piece.

Ocean Waves is another great tessellation quilt with palpable motion.

This simple geometric shape, some call orange peel, used with the unique fabric and color gradations creates a soothing pleasing quilt.

Can you feel the Autumn wind blowing these leaves? All created with triangles.

This quilt by Lisa-Marie Sanders has a striking 3 dimensional appearance with simple circles and only 2 colors.

This quilt by my friend, Jenny Bowker of Australia, creates depth and drama with simple triangles and expert color choices.

You may not love math, but you gotta love the quilts! Which is your favorite?