Wednesday, December 01, 2010

math problem

so remember in high school math class, when you were trying not to doze off or play calculator games (the graphing calculators the kids use now you can program games into and play in class making it look like you are doing calculations with the teacher...then again I guess now kids just use their cell phones, but we were not allowed to have them on at school)

The teacher would always say "I know you don't believe me but you will need to know this at some point in your career so pay attention."

and you thought "yeah yeah yeah, I am going to be a singer, actress, journalist, novelist, something else grand and wonderful, I won't need THIS"

Well, I needed my algebra today. For quilting.

if you have 77 blocks and want to make a quilt using as many if not all of the blocks, and you want the quilt to be longer than it is wide, how many rows and columns do you need?

x*y=77 (ish)
xy=x+2?
y=x+3?
y=x+4?

so 77 can be 7*11
it could be 8*9+5
it could be 7*10+7 (maybe for the backing I could do a little row)

I am leaning towards the last one, each block is 6 1/2" unfinished, so finished my choices are:
42*66 (I think a little TOO dramatic a difference)
48*54 (dramatic enough?)
or 42*60 (maybe)
oh or I could do 42*54 with 14 for the back and/or a pillow case

I am thinking the last two...what do you think? And are you chuckling over there at me?

6 comments:

Katie said...

That's not how I figure out how big a quilt will be. Hmmm...maybe that's why what is supposed to be a twin sometimes comes out almost a queen?

I'd say go for one of the sizes that has 42 as a dimension...you won't have to piece the backing that way!

(I programmed blackjack into my calculator...still have the calculator, but turns out when you drop it on the floor and the batteries come out, you lose your programs...)

Purple Quilter Queen said...

Oh how funny! So somewhere you were paying attention in Math class! Last choice sounds good to me too. I like the idea of adding a couple of blocks to the back in a row. Kindof ties the whole thing together. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Jenn

Theri said...

Well, I failed (or came close to) math for years... that must be why I lay them all out on the floor to arrange! :) Theri

Marsha B said...

Hmmm, cell phones were not around when I was in school. We didn't have calculators either. Oh my, dating myself. . . We learned to work out the problems on our own but algebra was not easy for me. It's not something I used later either even though I worked in an accounting department for almost 25 years. I usually just decide how many blocks I want across and down, then if I have left overs see if I have enough for another column or row. I think the last idea sounds good. I like some interest on the back of the quilt so the extra blocks will do the trick! Can't wait to see your finished quilt!

Beth said...

That was waaay too much math for me. I do like the last option too. If I have extra blocks I put them on the back.

---"Love" said...

So now I know why I have so many weird sized quilts! I forgot my algebra too! *ha ha!* ---"Love"