Making Quilts without Sewing: Investigating Planar Symmetries in Southern Quilts

Abstract

An activity for “making quilts without sewing” that enables high school students to develop their understanding of planar symmetries and wallpaper patterns. This activity incorporates the culture and traditions of quilting into the study of geometry. From the same block, students can make quilts with different patterns by using various combinations of transformations, in addition to the possible combinations of transformations that might have been used to create a quilt or wallpaper pattern. Students may also reflect upon the cultural activity of quilt makers and the art of quilt making.