Categorizing Drunkard's Path type quilting patterns

Abstract

The Drunkard's Path quilt block is a basic square quilt block consisting of a quarter circle in one corner on a square of some contrasting fabric. In this paper, we use symmetry to organize a library of quilting patterns using the Drunkard's Path quilt block. The organizational strategy begins by arranging the basic quilt blocks into squares that we call arrangements. We categorize these arrangements by symmetry type. We also act upon the arrangements by rotations, reflections, and colour exchanges, using the results to produce squares that we call tiles. These tiles are subsequently considered as tiles for quilt tops, thereby giving fodder for analysis of the underlying wallpaper symmetry groups and sometimes even two-colour symmetry patterns. Over 90 of the tiles are shown representing just a small number of the possible quilt patterns.