I saw an image of this tessellation on flickr. The image I saw was of a much higher density. Double the repetitions of my fold. I would love to find out how that folder did it. They must have employed a different technique than I used. I used my knowledge of the fujimoto hydrangea to figure out the crease pattern. I mapped that out, modifying for the desired result. Then I just went ahead and treated it as a crease pattern and collapsed everything in unison. Now, I know, when you normally fold hydrangeas or clovers, you do it in stages. It's not a collapse. It's a series of folds that add up to something. If it's possible to fold this in stages, I didn't find it. I just worked the paper gingerly until it eventually yielded to my persistence. But there's no way I could've done a much higher density that way without some kind of incredibly resilient paper. Any insights would be appreciated.

So, I found the crease pattern for this on google. Whose it is, I'm not certain. I was drawn to it because it seemed pretty straight-forward, but it was actually really difficult to fold. I'm sure my paper didn't make it any easier. It was probably too small and probably not the best density. The first time I folded this, it was good on the front, but terrible on the back. At that point, I felt that I understood it well enough to do a much better version. The second attempt did come out much better, but really wasn't much easier. I really like this pattern. Pointed rectangles on the front. Octagons on the back. It's simple in theory, but complex to execute. Very elegant. All those fiddly little diagonals seem to wreak havoc on my paper. Honestly, I think it just needs bigger paper. That would probably make all the difference. Or a much sturdier paper. But I pressed onward and was able to complete a second attempt with a pretty good result.

I had found a tessellation and crease pattern on flickr that I was curious to fold. I did fold it. Twice. This isn't it. More on that next time. This is the pattern it inspired me to create. It's probably nothing new. It's pretty obvious to the grid. Nevertheless, it was new to me. It's full on winter weather here in the northeast, so my photos are not lit the way I would like, but next  springtime is distant dream. So we persevere. For a change of pace, I've been working with a square grid rather than my favored triangle grid. I find square grid tessellations of any real complexity more difficult to fold. Everything seems to happen in a much smaller space and is nestled so close together. And they always seem to need way more preceases. Even with a clear and perfectly feasible plan, there's quite a lot of struggle to get the paper to do what I want it to do. Maybe that's just my inexperience with square grid tessellations. This one, however, is...

It's about time I added a new origami tessellation. This one was as frustrating as it was satisfying. My paper was not cooperating, but I persevered. I've explored similar designs. This one took it a step further. It uses the smallest rhombuses natural to the grid to connect an array of stars that are formed from offset hexagons and the resulting triangles. When you fold an offset small hex twist small triangles naturally form. This creates the stars. A typical hex twist follows the normal grid lines of a triangle grid. These hex twists fold bisecting the grid lines. However, unlike traditional open-back hexes, they are the smallest hex available on the grid. The hex shape itself does follow the grid. It's only the twist that is offset. I actually have a crease pattern from my planning stage which I haven't yet photographed. That would probably explain it better than words can. I'll hopefully upload it soon. There are also larger triangles on the rever...

This is a slightly more complex variation on a previous tessellation that I did a while back. There are rhombuses, triangles and hexagons all working together. In my version the triangles and rhombuses are mountain folds, while the hexagons are valley folds. When I first began folding the crease pattern, I was just kind of winging it. I wasn't entirely certain where I was going with it. So I wound up with random mountain and valley folds. I later unfolded and refolded following the consistent pattern shown. I thought about folding it differently, where the genders of the folds in individual modules went in alternating directions in some kind of pattern. That would probably be really interesting, but the paper didn't feel strong enough and I didn't feel patient enough. Normally, when I think of triangle twists my mind automatically goes to the classic offset triangles that do not follow the standard lines of an origami triangle grid. But there are many pos...

I found the crease pattern for this tessellation using google. I'm a sucker for rhombus twist based flagstones.I would call this one a rhombus spread tessellation. It reminds me of Eric Gjerde's famous spread hex tess re-imagined to use rhombuses. It begins with your standard small hex based rhombus flower at the center. It then proceeds to repeat the rhombuses in a linear pattern off of the center starting points. I really like it. It was a pretty standard flagstone fold. Patience is definitely required.  If you use a hexagon as your starting shape the edges are difficult. As with other flagstones the fold does not naturally fit that shape. It's a pattern that fits very nicely in a smaller 32 pleat grid. The end result is pretty impressive. Kudos to whomever first conceived of it.

I spent a lot of time at work trying to suss out the pattern for this design. I'm not sure too whom it belongs. Maybe Origami Yonca. Maybe Marjan Smeijsters. I got  close a few times. But too many distractions and interruptions hindered the process. When I was able to really focus, I discovered it was very similar to a design I had already done. It used the same process that I had used to create my ringing bells tessellation . At last the technique came back to me. It's a relatively knew way of folding for me. Rather than twists. It's more of a compression. The overall composition has a lot in common with flagstones, but rather than using rear side triangle twists to reconcile the front, it relies on the geometry of the grid to compactify and nestle the shapes close to each other. Given a little quiet time, I was able to work it all out. It's an unforgiving technique. You need pretty sturdy paper. So even though I was able to map the crease pattern, it took m...

This one came to me after seeing and working on some other people's  similar, but different tessellations. There's this technique of folding toward and under or over a grid shape. It may have a name. If it does, I don't know it. It creates different possibilities from  classic twist folds. That's the method I used here. Small triangles and small rectangles overlap each other to form hexagonal rings. If you have a fairly sturdy paper, it's not too difficult to fold. It takes some time though. It's slow going. A lot of little detail work. The second photo shows the rear of the tessellation. This should give some further insight into the structure should you choose to attempt it. I don't have a crease pattern. I drew it for the first time on the sheet I folded for the result. It's not a complicated structure. It didn't require testing and planning. I started with a small triangle at the center. Then rectangles off of those points. Repeat...

I got the crease pattern for this one from Daniel Kwan's flickr. It looked really complicated and difficult to fold, but it was actually pretty easy. The ones I think will be easy are always hard and the one I think will be a struggle are usually a breeze. That's no one's fault, but my own, I suppose. His is iso area. The design does not extend to the edges. But I'm a sucker for going all the way out to the edge. It yields a really pretty result. Both the front and the back are quite nice. It took no time to fold. It's a very straight forward concept. It artfully demonstrates the beauty in simplicity. . It's perfect for a beginner just getting started on the concept of tessellations. His original crease pattern is shown below.

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.