#einstein tile

"Flat hat on a flat cat":

Finished my einstein tile quilt!!! I wanted to have the braid go all the way around but I was 2 feet short 🥲

English paper pieced Aperiodic Monotile wall hanging is complete!

This block is based on the Smith, Myers, Kaplan, and Goodman-Strauss's aperiodic monotile known as the "hat" (explainer here https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/04/06/world/the-hat-einstein-shape-tile-discovery-scn/index.html and the original publication https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10798 )

In order to make this I broke the shape down to its most basic form - the 30-60-90 triangle. I drafted my own triangles on cardstock and glue basted the fabric to the forms. 

 From there I built up the shapes in shades of grey with a pop of orange. I wanted colors that both hid the complexity of the blocks and revealed it upon closer inspection. Ultimately I want the viewer to find new details as they look closer and longer at the peice. 

Midway through making blocks I came to the realization (probably missed when I read the articles) that some of the shapes are mirrored in the tiling. I had already made my orange block but I elected to partially disassemble it and make that my central mirrored shape. 

Initially I had no plan for how many blocks I would make. I essentially madr blocks until I was bored of making them. Because of the somewhat fluid nature of all the seams assembly of the blocks together was far simpler than I expected. I could fold in essentially any direction without creasing the triangles. I used a diagram from the Smith et al paper as my guide to assembly. 

Once I had it all together it was time to quilt. Honestly the quilting pattern I chose was something of an impulse but initial tests were nothing short of delightful. While my local store carries only a few colors thicker hand thread I was able to find a soft grey that stood out on every fabric in this quilt, but didn't have such a harsh contrast that you can't look past the stitching. My design are simply 3" squares that overlap in the corners and were measured on the fly. Their irregularities are accidental but still a feature. 

Finally I came to binding. I realized I had 42 corners to get around. I used a 1" bias strip to bias face the peice, folding out the seam allowances on the outer edge to secure the binding by hand. The only machine work on this quilt is in the seams connecting the binding strips. In hindsight I should have cut my binding strips at 1.25" but I managed to get it all turned and stitched down. This was most certainly the most challenging part of the entire peice.