This is a curious origami tessellation that I found. When you look at it as pictured above it looks like a simple pattern of four quadrants each containing the same molecule. Which is true.  Each molecule contains a diamond shapes comprised of four rhombuses which are flanked by four trapezoids. Simple. Right? However, when you alter your perspective by turning the tessellation 90 degrees you see something totally different. It becomes a linear pattern. Same exact design, just viewed from a different angle. Geometry is fun that way.  It's mostly a flagstone tessellation , except where the four trapezoids converge. At their center are some overlapping rhombuses.  When you look at the view of the back side you can see all the triangles that I used to connect the shapes on the front. You can also clearly see the duos of rhombuses which create the non flagstone center points.  It's a neat exercise in rotation and perception.  Crease pattern included.  Fi...

 I've come up with a few different tessellations based off of the starting point of three trapezoids tucked into the points of a triangle collapse. ' Stock Market ' is one. ' Eyes of the Pyramid ' is another. ' Pickled Carrot Salad ' is a third.  This origami tessellation, which I've named 'Existential Crisis' is the latest configuration that I've discovered.  It uses both flagstone style folds and collapsed triangles. Combining different folding styles in one tessellation is a great way to unlock new and interesting patterns. In this original tessellation the central molecule consists of a small triangle collapse dead center with three trapezoids tucked into its points. There are also three triangles in the gaps between the edges of the trapezoids. They connect in the standard flagstone fashion.  In order to repeat the center design, I add two additional triangles onto the long edges of the trapezoids using flagstone connections again. The ...

 This hybrid flagstone/collapse tessellation is from just the other day. The concept is to combine classic flagstone style folds with traditional tucks/collapses. I've done a few tessellations using this technique. This is the latest one.  Open back hexagons are connected to rhombuses using flagstone folds. Then I add a triangle collapses between each rhombus and use the top point to repeat the pattern.  On the back of the tessellation you can see that reconciling the remaining spaces in the design required a few more triangles and some more rhombuses as well.  I would say this is a difficult , possibly advanced tessellation . I had a lot of trouble with it, but I'm not sure if it was strictly because of the complexity or if the weather didn't factor into it to some extent.  If you want to fold it, be prepared to spend some time on it.  Crease pattern included. Filed under: July 2026 Origami Tessellations

  This is an intermediate level tessellation that I recently folded. The idea is two kinds of triangles twisting around an open hexagon. Not too unusual. It's a little different though because the top corners of the triangles meet and they twist into one another. This is illustrated very clearly in the crease pattern at the end of this post.  In order to repeat the pattern, I used small hex twists and some triangle twists (which are not requited, but I liked them). They could just be left as regular corners.  I used ordinary printer paper because there are a lot of folds which overlap each other. Normally, when you do a hex twist you, just spin each axis in the same direction and they don't interfere with one another. In some cases, like in this tessellation , it's necessary to twist the axes in opposite directions. When that happens, they overlap. When trying to fold overlapping twists, I find it much easier to use thinner paper.  All in all, this paper type worked...

 I've  had the pattern for this tessellation for quite some time. It just kind of got lost in the chaos for a while. Finally folded it the other day.  When you look at the crease pattern (located below), it looks pretty complicated, but actually it's pretty straightforward. There are a lot of shapes, but creating the connections between them is fairly simple.  Another interesting thing about this particular origami tessellation is that it kind of looks like there isn't a tessellation pattern, even though there is. It takes a few steps outward, but right near the edges the central molecule does show up again.  The front side is mostly trapezoids with some triangles. The back side is exclusively open hexagons. This is an intermediate level tessellation . It'll take up a little bit of time, but it won't drive you crazy in the process.  Diagram to fold this one follows. 

 A new style that I've been tinkering with occasionally is one that combines elements of both linear and rotational patterns. This easy tessellation is my most recent design using that technique.  As you can see there's a diagonal pattern of overlapping trapezoid twists. But there's also a hexagonal pattern that's a little harder to detect.  Twisting around the larger hexagons are both the trapezoids you can see on the front and also rhombuses which appear on the back.  On the back side of the tessellation the rhombuses also appear in a vertical/diagonal spread.  The twist pattern around the hexagons is: trapezoid:trapezoid:rhombus:trapezoid:trapezoid:rhombus. It is much more obvious in the crease pattern included below. 

 This is a new advanced tessellation that I created last week and folded this week. It's kind of a diabolical pattern in that it contains six series of seven interconnected triangle collapses. If you've ever attempted to do any larger number of triangle collapses you'll know how difficult it can be.  The other portion of the tessellation is pretty standard. A flagstone style set of an open hexagon surrounded by six trapezoids.  The magic happens when I add a rhombus before repeating the center. That's what creates the gaps where all the triangles can reside.  I chose a pattern of the center triangle facing forward with the rest facing backward. This is personal preference. They can be arranged any way you like.  I also altered the pattern near the edges just to create cleaner lines. Replacing some partial trapezoids with rhombuses.  If you wish to fold this origami tessellation , definitely use a strong paper and plan your ups and downs ahead of time. It ...

This is a just a random idea that I had while fiddling around with a small piece of 'gridded' paper. Sometimes, looking for inspiration, I'll fold a small 16 pleat grid on a little square and just screw around with it to see if it takes me anywhere worthwhile. The tessellation that I came up with was an alternating ring of small hexagons and teardrops around a large hexagon. In order to have 12 shapes around the hexagon, instead of the usual 6, it was layered using natural micro trapezoids.  All this information will make a lot more sense upon viewing the crease pattern below.  The back view is rather unremarkable.  What's notable about this particular  origami tessellation , is the fact that I didn't actually fold it as a tessellation. The pattern can absolutely be tessellated. I even went so far as to map it that way on the paper prior to folding.  However, as I was beginning the first of the six repetitions, I realized that the paper I'd chosen combined wit...

This is an origami tessellation idea that I had a while back. Because it seemed so simple, I didn't rush to fold it. It languished for a while waiting for me to become interested.  On a day when I didn't have that much time, I decided to try it.  It's a very simple concept of large hexagons with natural triangles. I add small hexagons at the points of the triangles in order to repeat the pattern.  Some open triangle twists finish off the remaining space.  The diagram included below doesn't really fully illustrate the further finishing touches that I added to it.  Once I had the whole tessellation flattened I did small triangle twists with the corners of the large hexagons. This created kind of pseudo open back hexagons in their place. This led me to then fold their edges inwards, creating the final design.  It's hard to tell from my 32 pleat rendition, but the design is fully repeatable.  Even though it's a very simple concept, it wasn't easy at all ...