Designing Tessellations : The Secrets of Interlocking Patterns (Hardcover)

by Jinny Beyer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Designing Tessellations opens the door for quilters to thousands of new and exciting patterns by showing them how to create tessellations--designs made up of the repeated use of seemingly complex but deceptively simple shapes that interlock perfectly to flow across a quilt. Inspired by artist M. C. Escher, Jinny Beyer introduces quilters to the fascinating world of symmetry and then clearly shows how to experiment with shapes and images to create sensational, tessellating designs. Quilters will not only learn how to produce interlocking geometric patterns, but also will learn how easy it is to create true-to-life images of birds, fish, butterflies, and more in the style of Escher. Features include: - More than 125 color photographs and 2,000 step-by-step color drawings - Dozens of quilts featuring tessellated designs

About the Author

Jinny Beyers is one of the best known and most highly respected fabric designers in the quiltmaking industry. Her signature line of fabrics are produced by RJR Fashion Fabrics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809228661
• ISBN-13: 978-0809228669
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #289,478 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Textbook on Tessellations!, June 27, 1999

By	Jody Palm "bookgoddess" (Greeneville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

98 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really more than a "quilt book", September 7, 1999

By A Customer

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.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for quilters as well as M.C. Escher fans, August 18, 2004

By	M. Coppedge (North Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.