Customer Reviews

Designing Tessellations : The Secrets of Interlocking Patterns

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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!

When I first saw this book, I was surprised not to find a quilt on the cover but after reading the book, I realize this was a wise decision. While quilters will get a lot out of it and many of the examples are quilts, the book is really so much more. It addresses basic design issues for all sorts of things. It respectfully simplifies the topic of tessalations without speaking down to the reader by giving both the formal mathematical nomenclature as well as Jinny's shorthand that is more easily understood. I think this would be a good addition for math teachers and art teachers as well as a basic book for all quilters. It makes you stop and look at common things we may see everyday but really may not have really appreciated. I think it may also help to elevate some people's opinion of quilting because it addresses how complicated even the simplest of quilts really are.

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.

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."

This book takes a practical approach to design. I bought the book because I love Jenny's work, but the book is so much more than just a quilting book. It's really a course on design which can then be applied to quilts. The book gives such a practical approach to symmetry and design that I find myself excited once again about designing and sewing something wonderful. This is really a must-have book for artists, designers and craftspersons. Jenny's done it again.

Just when I thought I had quilts all figured out, Jinny Beyer turns my quilting brain upside down and sideways and several other directions too. You will look at this book for months and your quilts ever after will be the kind no one can figure out except you and Jinny Beyer.

I bought this book with the intent of it being a gift for someone interesteed in collecting "art books" who also likes fiber arts and quilting. I ended up keeping the book as I couldn't bear to give it away after opening it! It is Very readable, the excersies are understandable and useful, and by the end of each chapter you have a firm grasp of that aspect of 2 dimensional surface design. Several friends are waiting to borrow it from my library, but its one that I'll keep track of.

The techniques in this book far surpass any other book on tessellations I've seen. It's hard to imagine anyone explaining these complex ideas, but Beyer explains them in an easy-to-understand text. If you like the works of MC Escher, this book is a combination of two artists at their best. Lots of nice quilts to look at and some of Escher's work, too. Beyer, best known for her popular quilting books, shows she is also an artist and a mathemetician at heart. She's taken the simple quilt block a step farther. Her book offers limitless ideas for any artist or math-minded person. I bought it as a reference book for my quilt library, but found my husband pouring over it one day!! Highly recommended.

Escher meets my fabric stash! Toss out the kids and the dog and put on your thinking cap and follow the logical steps to learn the simple technique. If you concentrate, you can quickly draft remarkable connections between your shapes or ideas. I'm not too mathematically inclined, but with graph paper (and a good eraser) I found the easy to understand theories simple to apply.

This book is a must if you want totally originally quilts that no one else has ever designed before. A must for any quilter who enjoys puzzles and originality.

Back in high school I barely got out of geometry so I was truly amazed when Jinny Beyer was able to teach me how to create tessellations. She simplified the process and not only gave me a number of examples but also gave me the tools to create my own tessellations.