The Thousands

The maths pleb may think maths is all about abacuses and number crunching and imaginary pie. The fact is, it’s all this and so much more.

Meet Elaine Krajenke Ellison. She’s a retired high school teacher who also enjoys quilting. Perhaps you don’t think maths has much to do with quilts, but you don’t have a BA in Mathematics from Michigan State, do you? Thought so. Elaine’s love of maths inspires the patterns on her many handmade quilts. There’s Sierpinkskis Triangle, named after the Polish mathematician with a penchant for fractals, this ode to Fibonnaci, a Parabolas quilt which can be used to explain conic sections in algebra, and frankly I’m prepared to forgive logarithms for ruining my life back in ’02 if they can make me a Golden Rectangle like this to sleep under. **Some of Elaine’s quilts are on display in museums and galleries across the world, some are owned in private collections, and a select few are available for you to purchase! Here’s your chance to own a lovingly handcrafted piece of mathematical art. A special message from Elaine: "I am very pleased that I can share my mathematical quilts with you. Hopefully, after viewing the quilts, you will have a new way of looking at what my quilts are trying to communicate: a love of mathematics and quilting."