 Log Cabin Barn Raising |
Recursion is a repeated process with an increase or decrease in size. In each of these quilts, the recursion starts with a pattern in the center and moves out. |  Sunshine and Shadow |
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Recursion
Log Cabin Barn RaisingRecursion is a repeated process with an increase or decrease in size. In each of these quilts, the recursion starts with a pattern in the center and moves out.
Sunshine and Shadow
Line Symmetry A figure has line symmetry if it can be divided into two mirror images around an axis of symmetry. The order of line symmetry refers to the number of axes of symmetry it has.
In the Carolina Lily quilt, the whole quilt has order of line symmetry equal to two and each separate pattern piece has order of line symmetry equal to one. The quilt has both a vertical and a horizontal line of symmetry, while the pattern pieces have vertical lines of symmetry. |
Rotational Symmetry Rotational symmetry refers to rotating a figure until it looks exactly the same. The order of rotational symmetry refers to how many times a figure will look the same when it is rotated 360 degrees. Every figure has rotational symmetry of at least one since when it is rotated 360 degrees completely around it will look the same as when it started.
The image in the Broken Star quilt (excluding the square border) has order of line symmetry equal to eight. |
| The squares in the Sampler quilt have a variety of orders of line and rotational symmetry. |  Sampler |
Tiling
Tiling refers to the filling in of a plane with repetitions of the same shape so that no gaps appear. The result is called a mosaic or tessellation. Each of the quilts below constitute a tessellation.
 Tumbling Blocks |
 Bachelor's Puzzle |
 Double Wedding Ring |
Reference
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