Triangle variation. Once you get the technique down you can go in a lot of different directions with this one. Scholz and Bieber have explored these folds in depth. I saw this particular pattern on flickr and really liked it. If you're feeling creative, you can make yourself crazy deciding which direction the triangles should go. You can also go nuts and do this with small triangles. That would be a hell of a lot of triangles to work. But I've done it and so have many others. You can also fold over the ednges of the triangles in different patterns for more variations on the design. They can be inverted too.

This is a variation on a Robin Scholz amizade design. It's just a minor variation, but I like how it looks. It wasn't really my intent to fold this. I had different ideas in mind, but instinct took me here and the result is pretty nice. I'm not thrilled with how similar it is to other compositions, but I do like how it photographs. It was also somewhat easier to fold than original amizade design. I've been kinda short of new ideas lately. But I've recently discovered a new technique. I'm working on understanding it better.

This is a variation on my small stars hex rotation. It uses a new method for joining the repetitions. The small hexes are folded the same as open back hexes. This is what creates the triangles. Some arms link them together. Oddly offset triangles on the back help everything coalesce. Don't mind the odd dark areas. The model was folded from used paper. That's just printout and images making certain areas appear darker. The triangles are pretty easy to find when you go to the back of the paper after you've done a few of the stars.

I saw the tessellation on google images maybe. I saved it a while ago and only just finally decided to give it a try. I really like how the hexes go in both directions. I think that's a great idea. It consists of all large hexagons. At the center it's a regular twist. That's surrounded by triangle twists. Then for the next ring there are more large hexagons, but they are folded on the opposite side of the paper. They are also folded in on themselves. A common technique. You just squeeze the corners together and flatten. Then you go back to the other side of the paper again and regular hexes for the next repetition. Repeat  as often as you can depending on the size of your grid and your overall patience. I used a 32 pleat grid which yielded three rings. So in reality, it's all the same repeating set of large hexagon twists surrounded by triangle twists. What makes it different is that you squash every other set in on itself while leaving the alternating set...

This is an unusual flagstone pattern which I believe belongs to Robin Scholz. I had saved the crease pattern a long while ago and finally decided to fold it I've folded my share of flagstones. I've even designed a few. This one is certainly different. Even if you're familiar with the technique, this one will present a bit of a learning curve. Its unusual teardrop shapes require a great deal of prefolds. There's a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes to make everything work. His original crease pattern still lives on flickr It's a nice departure from typical tessellations both regular and the flaggie sort. I've seen and folded the teardrop shape before. Not in this way though. Definitely gets you to thinking about other shapes which may be possible.

A variation on something I've done before. Yet it produces a very different end result. Large hexes, squares and triangles. A trifecta of tessellation happiness. I find it to be a pleasing 'braided' design. That's how it looks to me. The squares land naturally off of the wings of the triangle twists. As you follow the repeating pattern the hexes form naturally. This can be done with small offset hexes and rectangles. It's the same, but different. You could also start with hexes at the center and repeat the pattern from there.

This is an idea I had that is excellent on paper. My execution of it, however, was less than stellar. Probably on a second try it would come out more spectacular. I really like the pattern and the concept. But I struggled to understand folding it even though the architecture of it was my own concept. I like how the back turned out. During the planning, I didn't really see the extra folds that would land on the rear, so that hampered my efforts to some degree. On the front, everything needs to twist in a kind of symbiotic relationship. While I'm familiar with flagstones and other folds that are executed as a whole rather than in stages, this particular pattern proved difficult. Most likely because it was somewhat different from any I'd done before. It has similarities to other designs and techniques, but it proved to be unique in many ways. A more gifted folder might have produced a cleaner end result. Still I'm pleased with the pattern I dreamed up. I...

I saw this one on flickr. I don't know the original designer to credit. I thought it might be fun to fold. Turned out to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated. It was terribly difficult to put together. Still, once I started, I was determined to complete it. There are some open back hexes. They've got rhombuses off of them. Those rhombuses are tethered to triangles. Interesting part is the triangles are natural to the grid. Which isn't typical . The rhombuses land in triads off of those triangles. Nothing really works on its own. Everything depends on everything else. It's a whole lot of getting folds to sort of stay while you get the rest of the folds to also sort of stay as you work your way out from the center. It looks and fold like a flagstone, but it's not a true flagstone. You might call it a flagstone variation. There are a lot of similarities. When everything is kind of willing you start again moving everything into place tog...

This origami tessellation just sort of worked itself out more than I did. I was playing around with pyramid shapes and somehow landed on this. I was just drawing a lot of triangles on the gird and this pattern  naturally coalesced. It's a pretty easy fold. Nothing daunting. There is a lot of pre-creasing. That makes it easier to get everything into its proper place. The end result is pretty cool. . Bigger triangles on one side. Small ones on the other. The bigger triangles are not two pleats wide. They are that wonky size in between the bigger and the smaller. It's a pretty typical triangle twist in flagstones. It's easier to see in the unlit version below. These crease pattern is just start with a small twist at center and then the bigger twists and the small twists alternating off of each other. It's simple, but it's intricate.

I was playing around with a triad of rhombuses off of a triangle twist. From there I just followed the trail the paper left for me. So there is a single small triangle twist dead center. Three rhombus twists come off of that. Then just repeat. As you form the repetitions some oddly offset hexagons naturally form. It reminds me of the triangle twist rings that are the bedrock of flagstone tessellations. Just another interesting variation on so many classic techniques.

This is one of those semi-accidental creations that have become my modus operandi. I began with a clear intent. That was the broad petal shapes that flank the center. I did not anticipate the triangles around the center hex. I guess that I should have.  I should know better by now. I'm fascinated by that small star that the grid can create. It folds the small hex like an open back hex rather than a traditional small hex twist. I guess you'd call it an offset small hex twist. This alters shapes and the way other folds can radiate from it. The bigger triangles on the back became obvious once the repetitions fell into place. I always expect some reverse side triangles in all my tesses. They're the mortar that makes everything else come together. Sometimes I see where they belong from the outset. Sometimes they just show themselves as I'm working out the other folds. If you listen, the paper tells you where it wants to go.

I saw a close up of this on flickr. It basically showed only the center. It's a Lydia Diard design if I remember correctly. Because it was a close in photo, the rest I improvised. It might be the same as the original or it might not. I don't know. When I first saw the design I was thinking it would look nice as repeating stars. It probably would. But once I'd done the center, it was obvious that would need a larger grid. So I changed the plan to fit the 32 pleat grid. I don't think I could do all those rabbit ears on a 48 pleat grid. Not without larger paper. Personally, I hate rabbit ear sink folds. They are a great way to make cool looking points in tessellations, but I find them incredibly tedious to fold. They're not so much difficult, as they are just annoying. That's how I feel about them anyway. I'm sure others feel differently. Give me a good hex twist any day. A nice triangle twist is great too. I do enjoy a nice flagstone fold. I love...