Quilting can be an exercise in geometry
I once saw a film explaining how the game of pool was an exercise in geometry. Little arrows appeared onscreen to demonstrate angles and trajectories. I immediately gave up any hope of making a living as a pool shark.
In my mind, math was for boys. OK, it was an excuse, but it worked for me. I wanted to pursue non-mathematical pursuits like sewing and baking. Turns out, the joke has been on me all along.
When I was a girl, I used to peek in the window when the ladies from church gathered to "tie" a quilt. They would stretch the new quilt out onto the frame, clamp it in, and sit around the edges for hours, talking and stitching.
I always invited myself in when the cookies came out. Other than that, I laid low. One Christmas, those ladies put together a blue Holly Hobby quilt and gave it to me. I loved that quilt to shreds.
When I married, those same ladies presented me with a bright patchwork quilt, tied with red yarn. I had not been there to see it being made, but I imagined them sitting together, talking and tying. On cool evenings, I would curl up on my couch, wrapped in my quilt of memories.
As it turned out, my quilt of many colors was also a quilt of many shapes. Geometric shapes. Quilting is an exercise in geometry. Who knew?
I had never seen anyone cutting quilt squares or sewing a quilt top together until I was much older. It looked so easy, I thought it would be a snap to stitch one together, so I started cutting. My patience ran out before I got much done.
Things today are much easier. Rotary cutters and cutting mats make it possible to cut straight lines and squared-up squares. The mats have intersecting lines to help guide the quilter in cutting precise shapes. Transparent rulers help to measure and mark up fabric without moving it around.
As we take a break for Christmas this year, we are doing crafty things at home. We have been sewing, crocheting and generally going through our craft boxes making whatever suits our fancy. It feels good to do this with my girls, to pass along my skills and see my children develop their own unique styles.
It may be break, but that doesn't mean we can't learn something. Our planning process has a math component as well. We draw patterns to scale from templates we've printed. From those patterns, we measure, cut and lay out our design. If the pieces fit and the design is pleasing, it is time to sew it up, keeping an even seam allowance.
By the end of the week, we expect to finish some bath mats, a puppet theater, pillows, costumes and a felt food set. And with all our measuring and cutting gadgets, the girls and I will even finish a quilt made from one of my daughter's old dresses. It isn't too fancy, but the learning process will be stitched with love.
True, I may not be able to convince my boys to start stitching, but now that I've brushed up on my angles, I can always challenge them to a game of pool.
Rose Godfrey is a speech pathologist and homeschooling mom in Hallwood.
