This is an unusual idea that I had recently. Most origami tessellations either have a linear pattern or a circular one. This one kind of has both and neither at the same time.  When you first look at it, you might think, that's not a tessellation, because it doesn't repeat. But, actually it does. Just in a different way.  The pattern is diagonal, heading off in four different directions from a rhomboid starting point.The sequence spreads outward from each edge of the central rhombus. An infinite array. Rhombus, trapezoid, trapezoid, rhombus and so on and so on. It's hard to see in the finished fold, but is much clearer when you look at the crease pattern, which is at the end of this.  That progression creates gaps which can easily be filled with large hexagons and more rhombuses and trapezoids. Circular arrays butting up against the linear ones. As you move further outward the gaps change and you have to fill them with different sets of shapes. I took it as far as ...

 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 ...

 Here's a new tessellation that I folded recently. It's similar in concept to my ' 'Lilacs and Lavender' tessellation '. It combines flagstone techniques with tucks, collapses and twists for a unique layered effect. In this particular tessellation, the central point is an open hexagon connected to six rhombuses. From there I tuck trapezoids into the edges of the rhombuses.  In order to continue the tessellation, I then add more open hexagons tucked into the edges of the trapezoids and into the points of the rhombuses.  It's then that the center point can be repeated. The full pattern can continue in that way ad infinitum.   Finding these patterns that can become origami tessellations is to me, the most fascinating part of the whole process. They're like little puzzles that you didn't know were there until you found them.  It's a somewhat difficult tessellation to fold. Nothing all that crazy, but it does take some patience.  If you wish to fold...

I wanted to do a tessellation with a very specific pattern I had in my head. That pattern is rhombus > trapezoid > trapezoid > rhombus.  Which is a very easy pattern to repeat horizontally. Repeating the pattern vertically however, proved somewhat trickier.  It took a  little while, but eventually, I figured a pattern that worked. The unusual thing is that it's both a circular and a linear pattern simultaneously. See the crease pattern below for further clarification.  The circular pattern is asymmetrical. With triangles, rhombuses and trapezoids all rotating around large hexagons.  The linear pattern is symmetrical. Repeating the set of rhombuses and trapezoids evenly and consistently. It's a twist based tessellation that was much easier to fold that it was to conceive.  

 This twist based tessellation is an idea that I had a while back. The first time that I folded it, I spaced things too close together and didn't really like the outcome. So, this time around I went with broader gaps between the shapes.  The shapes are linear rows of rhombuses. Pretty simple stuff. But an interesting thing you can do with this design. Theoretically you could do this with any design that features 90 degree corners.  Anyway, instead of folding flat corners, what you can do, is fold triangle twists at the corners. They twist in opposite directions and that  creates a 3dish sort of curved fold connecting them. My paper was kinda soft for it to really work, but you get the gist.  The back of the tessellation comes out as a series of many parallelograms. Crease pattern included.   

Found another interesting trapezoid based origami flagstone configuration. It's design is kind of a natural progression from the pattern in my ' Walk in the Park' tessellation .Same starting point, different follow through. It shows how incredibly versatile trapezoids are in tessellations.  'Walk in the Park' used rhombuses to create its alternating flow of trapezoids around hexagons. In Rolling Stones here, It's all trapezoids flipping, churning and spinning around the hexagons. I think I like this pattern a little more.  Back side is typical for a flagstone tessellation . Many, many triangles. Crease pattern below.

 This is one of my more bizarre original tessellation ideas . When I'm not busy being obsessed with flagstones or elaborate collapse patterns, I occasionally devote a little time to unusual twist folds. This is one of those tessellations.  The design is actually pretty simple, but the result that it yields is pretty out of the ordinary. That's because of the close proximity of the various folds to each other. It creates weird overlapping shapes  and it also makes it harder to fold even though the actual shapes are pretty standard. The center is a large hexagon. A shape I rarely use. Then some natural trapezoids are tucked into it. Pretty normal so far. But then I add some 'tented' triangles. The two edges go in one direction and then the line that bisects them goes in the other. You can see it pretty well in the crease pattern that is below.  If you want to fold this origami tessellation , I recommend a grid larger than 32 pleats, so that you can get full repetitions...