Giant Origami Quilt. by C. Kenneth Fan

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 5 by C. Kenneth Fan With these two origami units, you can make very large origami quilts. During the summer of 2006, girls of Science Club for Girls designed and folded a butterfly quilt measuring approximately nine feet by six feet and displayed it at Boston Children s Museum. If you make one, please send me a picture! You can pictures to ckfan@post.harvard.edu. Although this design can work for a variety of paper sizes, these instructions are drawn assuming that 5 7/8 paper is used for the hubs and 9 ¾ paper is used for the triangles. The key is that the larger square must be at least 10% but not much more than 60% larger than the smaller. The number of sheets you will need depends on your overall quilt design. For the hubs, it is strongly recommended that you use double-sided origami paper with foil on one side. Let s start! First, you need to make a measuring tool so that the flaps on the triangles will fit snugly into the pockets of the hub. Measuring Tool 1. Use the smaller size paper that you will use to make the hubs. Begin colored side down. Fold in half but pinch only near the left edge. Unfold. 2. Fold the corner to the crease you just made. The crease runs through the lower right corner. Make a pinch only near the left edge. 3. Fold along a horizontal crease so that the lower left corner reaches a point a bit above where the pinch made in step 2 meets the left edge. 4. Fold and unfold in half. 5. Fold the top and bottom edges to the middle. 6. Fold in half. Finished Measuring Tool

2 Page 2 of 5 Origami Quilt Hub Instructions 1. Begin colored side down. Fold in half but pinch only near the left edge. Unfold. 2. Fold the corner to the crease you just made. The crease runs through the lower right corner. Make a pinch only near the left edge. 3. Fold along a horizontal crease so that the lower left corner meets the point where the crease you just made meets the left edge. 4. Pinch the midpoints of the upper and lower sides. 5. Make the indicated creases. Each crease passes through a corner and one of the pinches made in step Fold the lower edge up to the intersections made by the creases in step Fold and unfold the top edge also to the intersections made by the creases in step Fold the upper left and right corners to the crease made in step 7 along a crease that passes through the upper corners of the topmost layer. The corners should go right to the indicated intersections. 9. Unfold the fold made in step 6.

3 Page 3 of 5 Origami Quilt Hub Continued 10. Now fold the lower left and right corners to the indicated intersections. This step is symmetric to step (Not all arrows are shown to avoid clutter.) Carefully observe which creases are mountain folds and which are valley folds. Then, collapse the midpoints of all six sides to the center. You might find this step easier to do in stages, one side at a time. 12. This is step 11 in progress. 13. Finished hexagonal hub with six triangular flaps standing up. Store the hub this way. If you wish, fold each triangular flap to the side. Do not worry if the hub does not lie completely flat. Finished Origami Quilt Hub, enlarged. The Science Club for Girls quilt displayed at Boston Children s Museum.

4 Page 4 of 5 Origami Quilt Triangle Instructions 1. Use the larger squares for the triangles. Place white side up and place the Measuring Tool along the upper edge to locate a horizontal crease and fold as shown. 2. Pinch to mark the midpoint of the upper edge. 3. Fold the upper right corner to the pinch just made to make a vertical pinch located roughly where indicated. 4. Fold and unfold the upper left corner to the pinch you just made along a crease that passes through the midpoint of the upper side. Depending on the size of paper you use, the crease may pass above or below the lower left corner. 5. Fold and unfold the upper right corner to the crease you just made along another crease that passes through the midpoint of the upper side. 6. If the creases made in steps 4 and 5 meet the left and right sides somewhat above the lower edge (for example, by more than half the width of the Measuring Tool), fold up the bottom edge up so that the creases do reach to the very bottom of the rectangle. (This won t be necessary for 5 7/8 and 9 ¾ paper sizes.) 7. Unfold. 8. Fold and unfold the upper right corner to the left crease along a crease that passes through the point where the left crease meets the upper side. 9. This step is mirror symmetric to step 8.

5 Page 5 of Refold along the creases made in steps 4, 5, 8, and 9 in the order indicated. 11. If the lower tips extend beyond the bottom edge of the paper, fold and tuck the tips under so that the bottom edges are all flush. (This won t be necessary for 5 7/8 and 9 ¾ paper sizes.) 13. Fold the bottom edge over what used to be the bottom edge. 14. Make the five indicated valley folds and unfold. 12. Place the Measuring Tool along the bottom edge and fold over along a horizontal crease. (Some people find it helpful to mark these creases just before step 10.) Finished Quilt Triangle. Insert the flaps as indicated to connect the hubs and triangles. There are two types of triangle flaps: short ones and long ones. The long flaps make a much more secure connection. Make sure every level of the quilt has some long flap connections to ensure the overall strength of the quilt.