Designing Tessellations

by Jinny Beyer

Book Overview

Introduces quilters to the world of symmetry and then shows how to experiment with shapes and images to create tessellating designs. This book helps quilters learn how to produce interlocking... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809228661
• ISBN13: 9780809228669
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 3.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 9.0" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent for quilters as well as M.C. Escher fans

This is the best book on tessellations I have seen. Since my main goal was to learn M.C. Escher's technique, I was first surprised to see that the author primarily deals with developing quilt patterns, from simple to complex. Only the last few chapters are dedicated to M.C. Escher's work. But I realized quickly that every page leads up to the next, teaching more and more intricate patterns until I was able to analyze Escher's work and see for myself how he developed the patterns. The book is full of illustrations and step-by-step drawings, so that you can soon create your own artistic work. And using a computer drawing program along with the book is not necessary but helpful if you want fast results with many variations. After reading, or better working through, this book I looked at other books that concentrated on Escher's work, but none of the authors explained his techniques better than Jinny Beyer. Thanks to her clear explanations and drawings I am now able to develop quite intricate designs on my own.

Complex Shapes From Simple Ones

Here are some excerpts from my review of this book. You can see the complete review on the Quilter's Review website."We can all picture a nine-patch design covering the surface of a quilt from border to border. But can you picture a shape that suggests a day lily blossom and that interlocks with itself to create a solid pattern with no background required?"I thought not. Fortunately, if you're up for the challenge of working with complex interlocking shapes, Jinny Beyer has written just the book you need."Designing Tessellations is a design book, a textbook and a workbook that will help you create exciting designs that can be made into quilts."Jinny explains in easy-to-understand language everything you would want to know about symmetry and tessellations. The book is well written, with the clear explanations that Jinny uses in all of her books. And the illustrations, many of which are her own fabulous quilts, are very helpful...."...When reading this book, it is important to remember that Jinny does hand-piecing. That makes these quilts easier to assemble. But that doesn't mean that they can't be pieced by machine. There will be lots of set-in seams to sew in almost any tessellating design."If you like Escher's work, are fascinated by repetition of pattern or are an advanced quilter, one who can read about an idea and convert it to a quilt, then this book is for you. On the other hand, if you need a pattern to make a quilt or your eyes glaze over at the mention of math, this might not be your cup of tea."

THE Textbook on Tessellations!

I'm a ceramic tile maker and have been trying to figure out Escher's designs, with only limited success. I have also had some unexpected mishaps with other types of tessellating tiles. So, I am really happy to have this book. It has helped me through the "gotchas" of making tessellating designs, and has given me many other design ideas.This book is beautiful, well laid out, with excellent illustrations and pleny of ideas. The math employed is usually the minimal amount needed to get the job done, although sometimes she does try to really explain the geometry. (That's where she loses me, but that's OK. I've had LOTS of success without understanding at that level). She explains concepts like translation, mid-point and corner rotation, glides, and mirroring in a way that anyone (even the math challenged, like me!) can understand and work with them. She also covers tessellations made from angles other than 90 degrees (for example, from shapes like triangles, hexagons, kite shapes, etc.) for the adventurous spirited.She includes exercises in case you want to use the book as a textbook for yourself or a class. It doesn't matter whether you are making quilts, tiles or something else. The concepts and directions apply no matter what the medium.Highly recommended for anyone who loves tessellations!