Bettina Danger: MQG Riley Blake Challenge Quilt: Rectangle Floor Plan

I've completed my Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake Challenge quilt and I'm calling it the...

* Rectangle Floor Plan *

When I began sketching my design for this project, I honestly wasn't thinking about anything having to do with math education. (Mom, are you laughing? Stop. I really do think about other things besides math.) Actually, I tried to incorporate some of Heather Grant's modern quilt ingredients from the Austin Guidelines. In particular, I focused on negative space and grid work but I'm not confident that the final product reads those things. Having to actually commit to an ingredient really increased the dopamine activity in my brain. This caused me to have lots of questions and I realize that I have much more to keep learning about. : )

Nevertheless, my math passion found its way into this quilt. I've been learning quite a bit about using open tasks in the math classroom, and think that this quilt could spark some great discussion. A question/task is open when a variety of responses are possible.

Here are some open questions I thought about:

1. Write a number sentence using one or more of the polygons in this quilt.

2. The answer is 5, what could be the question? or equation?

3. What could be a fraction to represent one or more of the rectangles?

Don't forget to ask, "How do you know?" Always ask for justification!

If you are a educator, parent, math lover or learner, give these questions a try with friends! Of course, it's got to be with friends so you can appreciate and learn from the variety of responses.

On a side note, I also could have been channeling myself as an 8 year old girl. I would have loved this quilt on the floor when I was playing with my Barbies and Trolls. Henry thought it was a robotic bunny. See how open this quilt is! ; )

I'll leave you with a few photos of the back and the quilting (which was all quadrilaterals until one irregular hexagon snuck in there). If you follow me on Instagram (@bettinadanger) I posted a photo of that crazy polygon!