I first heard the name Fibonacci years ago at a Milwaukee Art Quilters meeting. Having a degree in Dental Hygiene, art theories and terms were not typically in my vocabulary. But I loved geometry in high school, so this sequence of numbers grabbed me immediately. Let me share a bit of an explanation for those of you who have no idea what I’m writing about.
The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which the next number is attained by adding the previous two numbers:
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 …
This series can be used to model or describe an amazing variety of phenomena in mathematics, science, art and nature.
I did a quick walk through my yard and saw Fibonacci numbers everywhere. For example: my coral bell leaves have 5 main veins – and 5 is in the series:
Impatien petals come in 5s too.
Each branch of leaves I counted on my marigolds had 13 leaves.
And all the little clovers had 3 leaves (no 4 leaf clovers to be found):
An ear of corn has 13 rows. I didn’t have one handy to share a photo so, since it’s still corn season (sadly nearing the end of corn season), feel free to count the rows the next time you enjoy one.
And the human body is filled with these numbers: 1 head, mouth and nose; 2 eyes and ears; 5 fingers on each hand, and toes on each foot.
The mathematical ideas the Fibonacci sequence leads to, such as the golden ratio and spirals, are often appreciated for their charm and beauty.
When the Fibonacci series is drafted on a grid a spiral results.
I was thinking it might be interesting to continue the grid above, and then make it into a quilt – using a different fabric for each area of the grid. It could be a fun “modern” crib quilt!?!
This spiral is found many places in nature. The example I’ve seen cited most often is the nautilus:
a pinecone is another example of a Fibonacci spiral:
I marked in the spirals on this image to make them more obvious (and the cool thing is – they actually spiral in both directions!):
And isn’t this vegetable I bought at the farmer’s market a beautiful example of the spiral?
When any two successive fibonacci numbers are taken as a ratio (ie. 34/55), it is very close to the “Golden Ratio” which is approximately 1.61803.
For a better explanation than I can give you of this concept click here 😊.
If you are intrigued by the Fibonacci series and would like to learn more click here. To watch a short, easy to understand video about this fascinating topic click here.
So, what does this have to do with quilting???
Well, these numbers are supposed to be visually pleasing and the Milwaukee Art Quilters often chose their challenge quilt size to fit the Golden Ratio. Both of these challenge quilts were made according to this ratio:
Wendy was inspired to begin our collaborative quilt “Welcoming the Son Into Our Garden” by a photograph she’d taken of sunflowers.
The center of sunflowers is always a fibonacci spiral, and her photo was so perfect she decided to simply photo transfer it onto fabric for the quilt.
When I was coming up with a quilting design for my Compass Craze quilt, I decided to use a Fibonacci spiral spinning out from the center of the quilt.
I marked it on the quilt, stitched on the lines, and filled in with tiny spirals.
Here’s a detail for a clearer view of the spiral:
Perhaps if I had free-hand drawn the spiral it would have been just as visually pleasing, but I am very happy with these results.
Have you ever used this series in any of your quilts? Do you think you might try it in the future?
Even if it’s not your thing – I hope you found it interesting. God has made His creation beautiful and orderly, just like we attempt to do with our quilting.
Mary Miller says
The Fibonacchi Sequence leads to the Golden Ratio. One of the reasons the Golden Ratio is so special is that the human eye thinks things in that shape are pleasing, like the shape of the American flag. The ratio of the length to the width.
I was a math major and biology minor, so I really like this stuff, associating math with nature.
Thanks.
Marcia Singer says
Interesting, informative and entertaining blog subject! Some years ago I watched a PBS program about the churches built in Europe and how many of them incorporate Fibonacci sequencing.
Evelyn Link says
I first heard of the Fibonacci Sequence when learning Ricky Tims’ Harmonic Convergence which is one of my favorite background techniques. I had not known of the spiral connection. It is fascinating.