solvingorigamitessellations.com This tessellation is another in my series of experiments in how close together you can successfully layer twists.  This is a good one. It's achievable and it's also difficult . Which are the best kind.  I recommend a heavier weight paper. I used thin paper and while I was able to pull it off, it was a bit of a struggle.  I was kind of lazy and didn't pre-crease everything. As I worked the one side, I kind of let circumstance help me fold the rest. This technique works best with thinner paper.  solvingorigamitessellations.com It's quite a densely packed design. I conceived of it via the back side (second photo). Which is rhombus twists tucked closely into open back hexagons. But the beauty of the pattern happens on the opposite side of the paper (first pic) where all the layers converge.  This is a difficult tessellation because everything is tight and layered on top of each other.  Will add a crease pattern soon. Upd...

  solvingorigamitessellations.com Here is a new flagstone tessellation that I recently created and folded. The starting point is trapezoids and triangles around a central triangle. From there I just expand outward using the shapes that work with the space.  Because it starts from a triangle, everything repeats 3 x 3 instead of x 6. So 3 sides are a pattern and the alternating 3 sides are a different pattern. The pattern of shapes changes as the design expands outwards because there is more and more space to fill.  solvingorigamitessellations.com Because this is a flagstone, it is a difficult tessellation to fold. The reverse side is full of triangle twists.  As far as I know, this is an original origami tessellation . I've not seen it done before.  It occurred to me after I had completed this that the central module can probably be repeated if I flip the trapezoids of the second generation. I started to work that out on some grid paper, but haven't finaliz...

Winter Wonderland Tessellation by solvingorigamitessellations.com  This is an interesting original tessellation that relies on collapsing hexagons. That is how the micro rhombus stars are formed.  From there I added both triangle and rhombus twists.  This is a semi 3-D fold. It's mostly flat, but the connection between the repetitions have a 3-D curve joining them.  I decided to use green paper just to change things up. It's regular printer paper in a 32 pleat triangle grid.  by solvingorigamitessellations.com I realized as I was in the midst of mapping it out on my triangle gridded paper that it could be a fully flat fold if  I had just mirrored the shapes as each iteration progressed outward.  But at that point, I'd already committed to the original idea. So I went with it.  Update: I was scrolling through some similar tessellations and realized that  Minty Flowers  by Arseniy K is the flat fold of this. I already solved and folde...

Spirals of Doom by solvingorigamitessellations.com  This origami tessellation is a pretty basic one. While I adore the more complex patterns that I can find or interpret from others, if I hit upon a simple tessellation idea that I haven't encountered before, I will feel compelled to fold it. Such is the case with my Spirals of Doom tessellation.  In fact, it's such an unassuming tessellation that I forgot about it for a while. Then I found it a bit later in my google photos and here we are.  Spirals of Doom by solvingorigamitessellations.com Why did I call it Spirals of Doom? Just take a look at the world today. And I live in a barely blue state that is slowly drowning in a sea of red ones. But please, don't pray for me. I'm an atheist.  The basic premise is open back hexagons and rhombuses. The hexagons have natural triangles off of them and then the rhombuses tuck into their tips. I'm sure I drew a diagram before I folded this tessellation, but I don't kno...

  designed by solvingorigamitessellations.com This one is a little unusual in the way that the twists relate to each other.  The first time I tried this tessellation I used tant paper and it worked, but it was impossible to get a nice pic because the paper color was too dark. It's not the kind of tessellation that looks all that interesting without back light.  So, I did it again. This time with thinner, lighter colored paper. It certainly photographs much better.  Paper choice is so important for folding. It can make or break your attempt. The color of the paper is pretty important too. What's the fun in executing a cool tessellation if you can't get a good photo of it. What looks best is determined by the type of tessellation and how the various shapes interact and overlap.  I wasn't sure the thin paper would work for this design, but i managed to fold it pretty well.  designed by solvingorigamitessellations.com It's rhombus twists around an open back ...

designed by solvingorigamitessellations.com  I've been continuing to work on my twisting tessellation creativity. This is one that I particularly like. It's simple, yet complex. A great many tessellations are.  It begins with open back hexagons and then I go on to add a triad of interconnected triangles. It was an unexpected discovery.  Creating twist based tessellations are still a weak spot for me, but I occasionally hit upon something unexpected like this.  design by solvingorigamitessellations.com It's not too hard to fold. I'd say it's intermediate level . Upper intermediate though, because the triple sets of triangles are a little difficult to situate.  I used regular printer paper because I've learned that tant paper is not well suited to twist based designs. Tant is great for collapses and flagstones, but most twists seem to respond better to a thinner paper.  Crease pattern follows.  created by solvingorigamitessellations.com Filed under: Or...