Maths art and making · Maths CAS idea
Design a geometric quilt or textile
CreativityServiceProject-ready
Design and sew a quilt or textile piece from a geometric pattern, and, if you like, donate it to a care home or raise money with it.
Where the maths comes in
Symmetry groups, tiling, area and measuring accurately to reduce waste.
Which CAS strand it fits
- Creativity: The arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
- Service: Unpaid, voluntary work with others that also has a learning benefit for you.
Your CAS coordinator decides how an experience counts at your school. Strand summaries are provisional (our words, being checked).
How to run it
- Learn basic sewing or quilting with someone experienced.
- Design a pattern and calculate fabric quantities.
- Make the piece over several weeks.
- Donate or display it, recording the outcome.
This can grow into a CAS project if your CAS coordinator agrees: see planning a maths CAS project.
How to evidence it
- Design sketches and calculations
- Progress photos
- Recipient's thanks or display record
Date everything and keep it in your school's CAS portfolio as you go. More on what counts as evidence.
Reflection prompts
Questions to think about, not answers to copy. Write your reflections in your own words, in whatever form your school accepts.
- What did the fabric teach you that the drawing did not?
- How did you keep going during the slow parts?
- Who was it for, and how did that change the project?
Learning outcomes this often gives a chance to show
- Challenge and new skills. What could you not do at the start that you can do now? Which moment felt most uncomfortable, and what did you do next?
- Commitment and perseverance. When did you feel like stopping, and what kept you going? What does your record of sessions or meetings show about how regularly you took part?
- Initiative and planning. What did you plan, and what did you have to change once you started? Who did you need to ask for permission or help, and how did you go about it?
Whether you meet an outcome depends on what you actually do and reflect on, not on the idea. Outcome labels are our short summaries, being checked.
Safety and ethics
- Use sharp tools and irons carefully; ask for help with sewing machines.
Agree every plan with your CAS coordinator first. Safety and ethics for maths CAS.
Sketch curves and patterns first in the free online grapher.