A pattern to appeal to an engineer
 

I need some help. I want to do a quilt for my son who will be graduating in a year and a half with a degree in construction engineering. I am looking for some patterns or ideas of what I could do that would represent his new career. I have found a piece of fabric that had math symbols and equations but that is all I have so far. I would love to hear what suggestions you may have.

how about doing a Frank Lloyd Write type of quilt. I know a few people here did some.

if you want to use your fabric, how about a disappearing 9 patch.

i've been married to my construction engineer for 35 yrs. our son is a software engineer. symbols of thier trades don't interest them at all. it's the graphic appearance of the various quilts i make. clean graphic design & good color combinations.

How about repeating zigzag theme. White between rows of color? Large zigzags of say, grey, white, yellow, white, maybe dark grey, etc. Or his favorite school or sports team colors.
Just a thought.

If you do symbols & such I would put a tight focus on just a couple of things. I think "theme" quilts tend to very easily veer off into ""cutesy" territory which does not appeal to guys.

There was a male engineer taking beginning quilting when I was in an advanced class. I couldn't help but think the precision and structure of putting one together would appeal to an engineer.

My industrial engineer son loved the Bargello I made him (my avatar) he picked the colors and I picked the pattern. I called it Jets in Flight, it reminded me of jets in a vertical climb and his company produces jets.

Architechtural Gem This is very colorful, but I think it could be toned down if you don't want something so bright. I've been thinking about a neutral color scheme for it, but haven't gone beyond that stage.

I had fun making it and it got a lot of "ohhhs" at show and tell. The info is in the original post, below.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...e-t208147.html

My son likes tessellating designs, log cabin and bargello style. I agree that the graphic appearance is what appeals. I think anything Frank Lloyd Wright or M.C. Esher might appeal too. http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/
://www.google.com/search?q=M.+C.+Escher+quilt&biw=1164&bih=817&sourc e=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI4-aC2P6JyAIVyKKACh3rVQbI&dpr=1.1

I don't know the name of the pattern, but it looks like a 3d maze.

Or again, sorry I don't know the name of the pattern but the one that is 3d blocks stacked on top of each other.

Karen Combs Quilts of Illusion are very nice and very do-able. She has a website. Just do a search.

Sandy

My best friend also loves the Bargello quilt that I have made.

It does to this female engineer ;-) I hate sewing clothes (learned from Mom more than 40 years ago on my grandmother's treadle machine), but stumbled into quilting a couple of years ago and love it.

BTW I did make a quilt with some "technical-themed" fabric. Rather than a quilt pattern that looked "engineering-y", I chose to fussy-cut the fabric for the blocks. I did use a more modern pattern (something from Easy Quilts, probably a Tony Jacobson pattern) rather than "traditional" blocks. Both DH (mechanical engineer ) and I (chemical, materials, electrical engineer) gravitate towards that style. Neither of us like Bargello at all.

Michelle

You might take a look at Cherri House's books of quilts influenced by Urban Views and City Lights. Very modern, very clean, not too difficult ; )

I googled "Fabric with blueprints look" and there are many. As for the pattern, I don't know - aybe Disappearing 9-patch?

I would hazard a guess that graphic quilts containing an optical illusion would be appealing to most engineers. There are lots of examples if you google it.

the 3d maze is Labyrinth Walk

https://shop.americanquilter.com/kit...k-pattern.html

and there is a new one out now called San Marco Square
https://shop.americanquilter.com/kit...e-pattern.html

3d blocks stacked on one another is called Tumbling blocks. The One Block Wonder Cubed book has them as Hollow tumbling blocks a very neat 3d effect
http://www.amazon.com/One-Block-Wond...e+block+wonder

I know I am definitely attracted to these types of quilts of illusion but have no idea if an engineer would be. I would think so but don't know any I can ask.

Ask an Engineer. Oh wait, I am one.
You have some good suggestions here. Bargello is great, some intricate log cabins work well because the blocks can be used in so many many ways. The Illusions book is pretty good too. Tumbling blocks.. nice but it will get boring after awhile. Remember males like dark rich saturated colors, fall and winter themed.
Engineers like complex patterns with simple solutions. The best engineers love elegant solutions that require a minimum of work. It's how we think.

tim in san jose

I'm not an engineer, but I'm fascinated by the Labyrinth Walk pattern.

I really like all the suggestions everyone is posting. It is giving me some great ideas on how I can come up with something that my son will both like and will be a tribute to his graduation from college.

Why don't you check John Flynn's web site he is or was an engineer very good one but he went out of the engineer business and is now and international teacher, author and owner of the Flynn quilting frame business I have no interest in this business except I have taken a couple classes from him and own couple of his book and I learned a lot from him good luck with your quilt

Judy Niemeyer's patterns are great...her husband is an engineer and I believe she too has a degree, but went with quilting. Her website is www.quiltworx.com Would love to see what you do. Please let us know.

Ask him. Show him a variety of quilts to find out what appeals to him. Ask him what colors are his favorite. I will always ask what pattern a person likes and let him/her choose the colors. The quilt is never just a surprise. I know from experience that this is wise. My grand-aunt gave me an expensive hand-quilted Mennonite quilt and I would never have chosen the rust/brown colors myself. I love the cream-colored back of the quilt which showed the hand-stitching better than the front and used that side most of the time.

There are some patterns that resemble cogs. I think they are similar in structure to Dresden plates but cut more into rectangles and squares to resemble cogs

Maybe a two or three or three color quilt with high contrast. Black and white and ? You could make a sampler. You could use blocks and fabrics related to his career and hobbies. Any sports interests? Tool blocks.

What about the Deco Gear pattern? It is a free pattern on Craftsy. You could always add to this wall hanging to make it a quilt. Just a suggestion.

Puzzle quilt or anything graphic.