nycquilter

I love it too. From the minute I started quilting, I have wondered why math was never explained by making quilts. I struggled so hard in trig, algebra and geometry. If I knew about quilts then, they would've been a breeze. Though my friends laugh at me when they ask a math question and I start spouting formulae off...

pinecone

math is what I do when I can't sleep. I figure how many inches of a color I need for a pattern so I can pick from my stash. If a patterns says 1/4 yard, you might actually need only 6". I go to Keepsake Quilting's tent sale and you can stuff a plastic bag with random sized pieces, I wash, press then write how much is there on the selvedge for future reference. I have oodles of graph paper tablets and use them for writing notes too.
I was on the math team in high school and studied architecture and building in college...not so good in English and history.

piney

MaryLane

Piney, that is funny because that is what I do when I can't sleep. I lay in bed and calculate yardage needed, overall size, effect of border or sashing width changes, etc..

Lori S

I do like the math part .... except when I make a mistake( and its always a really simple math one/common sense that I goof) and don't catch it before I am too far into it for a quick solution.

RDM

Math is not my area of expertise, but don't mind doing equations for my quilts. I usually keep it simple. I admire those people who can take the numbers and in 30 seconds have it all figured out.

QuiltnLady1

Since a=b for HST 2(a squared) = c squared. When I figure the size of the diagonal, c=a (squareroot of 2). For my squareroot of 2 = 1.414... So I use a times 1.5 (which means it is a bit larger), then I trim it down.

GingerK

I like the math--as long as I don't get it wrong. I have to learn to trust my own conclusions. Lately, I just add a 1/4-1/2 meter to the amount I think I'll need. I am tired of sweating the last few cuts because of figuring too close.

Oh and my kids both love math. We moved around a lot during their school years and they always said that numbers never changed--no matter what language was spoken.

teacherbailey

I hated math since I never "got it" in high school...but later on, it started to make sense as I used it for quilting. I got pretty confident with the basics and ended up teaching 6th grade math for several years----loved every minute! I sooo understood how frustrated my students were, and why! Quilting math comes easily to me. To the writer that said she won't do 5th grade math for others----well, I will, and I have. Takes little of my time but when I explain how I did the calculations, I might just create another slightly-less-math-phobic-quilter!!!!

Lavada

You can do anything if you want too my Dad always told me so thanks Dad for teaching me i use math in my quilts

SunlitenSmiles

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The calculations are part of the fun.....there are so many fun parts to quilting that is why there is a tiny moment of sadness after the elation of seeing the finished quilt.....and a very good reason to have one in the planning stage while sewing on the binding of the current one......................it is an addiction, but not harmfull.