The Cellar - May 11, 2008; Mathematical Quilts

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May 11, 2008; Mathematical Quilts

Happy Mother's Day, mothers.

Elaine Krajenke Ellison is a mother. She is also a retired high school math teacher in Indiana, and a quilter. She makes mathematical quilts, many of which are in private collections, but some can be seen publicly at places like the London Science Museum. Here's a small sample....

http://cellar.org/2008/math1.jpg
http://cellar.org/2008/math2.jpg
http://cellar.org/2008/math3.jpg

She also sells note cards with pictures of the quilts and an explanation of their derivation. I bought a set for my retired school teacher Aunt. They're a surprise birthday present, so don't tell anyone.:headshake

She won't get it outta me, Bruce.

I keep reading Clifford Torus...as Clitoris....think he got much shit at school?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DucksNuts (Post 452768)

I keep reading Clifford Torus...as Clitoris....think he got much shit at school?

No, because they didn't have clitorises back then
But I bet no-one would read his resume...

They're lovely Bruce
I don't understand a word of it, but they're very pretty!

quilt erat demonstrandum

Beautiful! I wonder if she'll expand her repertoire to include fractals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetwater (Post 452930)

Beautiful! I wonder if she'll expand her repertoire to include fractals.

She did. The Koch curve and the Sierpinski triangle/square that she has done are fractals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DucksNuts (Post 452768)

I keep reading Clifford Torus...as Clitoris....think he got much shit at school?

I have nothing but respect for filthy minds, but the Clifford Torus is the shape pictured, not the name of anyone involved. Not sure how it got the name, actually...

http://www.msri.org/about/sgp/jim/ge...ions/main.html

</pedantry>

pretty cool, tho' pretty much all quilts are inherently mathematical anyway--you have to piece together geometric shapes, after all.

Oh...hahahaha...I just read Clifford Torus and didnt bother with the rest :blush:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloud (Post 453048)

pretty much all quilts are inherently mathematical anyway

shhhhhh!!! don't tell! :D

unless you do applique or crazy quilts, which can be free-form. Pieced quilts, though . . .

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetwater (Post 452930)

I wonder if she'll expand her repertoire to include fractals.

Not very often, they take an infinite amount of material to make.

The clifford Torus is very nice!

I am a math and a seamstress flunkie among other things but I do appreciate the visual.

Belated Happy Mother's Day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by skysidhe (Post 454683)

The clifford Torus is very nice!

skysidhe, my mom had one for a long time, but it seemed like she was always taking it back to the dealer for service. A couple years ago she traded it in for a used Escort.

oh no. Now what manhole did I step in.:blush:

You didn't, a plane fell on you.

New Math Tricks: Knitting and Crocheting

Quote:

Coral reefs can be crocheted. The atmosphere can be knit. And a stop sign can be folded into a pair of pants.

Welcome to the intersection of math and handicraft. Unexpectedly, handicraft in general, and yarn work in particular, has started to help provide answers to a wide range of mathematical problems. From the way the atmosphere generates weather to the shape of the human brain, knit and crocheted models have provided new insight into the geometry of the natural world.

"Crochet, knitting and other crafts allow people to visualize, recontextualize and develop new problems and answers," said Carolyn Yackel, a mathematician at Mercer University in Georgia.

Another prominent practitioner who uses yarn work, mathematician Hinke Osinga of the University of Bristol, puts it this way: "You can get bogged down in your own standard techniques of doing things, and then someone asks a silly question, and all of a sudden, you see a new way of interpreting things."

From livescience.com.