Fraction Mug Rug

Do you remember that interactive fraction strip quilt I created this year? Well, I've been dying to make one on a smaller scale to try out some different color options before I make another large quilt. When the Austin Modern Quilt Guild had a white elephant mug rug exchange I thought it was the perfect opportunity to experiment since I truly believe mathematics is beautiful! There will be many more of these fraction mug rugs in the near future. So, I'll just leave you with a few photos of how it turned out.

Front

Back - I love how the patterns emerge!

I found a mug at Crate & Barrel that matched nicely.

It's free-motion quilted with gray and teal on a black backing fabric.

:-) I'm told that it went to a very mathematical family. 

I hope they do some problem solving over morning coffee! ;-)

My Interactive Fraction Strip Quilt!

Have you ever used fraction tiles before? You might recognize them if you saw a photo so here is a link. Fraction tiles can be a very useful model in understanding fractions, however, math educators...be careful! Sometimes these tiles can hide the true understanding our students have about fractions. Who needs fraction tiles when you can have this gorgeous interactive fraction quilt that starts at the top (white) with one whole, and continues with (red) halves, (pink) thirds, (black) fourths, (green) fifths, (purple) sixths, (yellow) sevenths, (teal) eighths, (orange) ninths, (gray) tenths, light pink (elevenths), and dark purple (twelfths)?!

The free-motion quilting on the back highlights the unit fractions quite nicely. The greater the denominator the smaller the piece is!