Fibonacci Patchwork - Waistcoats

Fibonacci Patchwork - Waistcoats 

I became fascinated by the Fibonacci sequence of numbers back in the mid 1980's.  Subsequently the article below was published in "Patchwork and Quilting" magazine summer 1990.   An easier version to read can be found on my website:  http://www.patchworktemplates.com/page12.htm.   I have also written a bit about it on my website www.jackiewills.co.uk.  Apologies as it needs updating.  Please contact me if you would like me to email a copy.

During my time at Cockington Court with the Devon Rural Skills Trust I created a Fibonacci waistcoat using shades of solid red glazed cotton chintz, some heavy upholstery fabrics and some beautiful fabric from Zoffany.   The hand sewn fibonacci design made a beautiful back.

To make this into a garment I added machine sewn crazy patchwork which brought it all together. I remember being quite haphazard with the machine sewing.  Unfortunately this image does not show the fine detail.  I wore it constantly until a lady approached me and wanted to buy it.   I explained it was well worn which did not deter.    During this time I received a number of commissions for a similar garment.  See images below:

The theme for this Fibonacci waistcoat was reds, blues and with some quite strong patterned fabric.  Most of it was hand-sewn with random machine embroidery and appliqué. The thing about machine embroidery on chintz is that you have to get it right first time as unpicking leaves visible machine holes.  The glossy glazed chintz combined with non glazed fabric created an interesting contrast.  

These photographs were taken on a cheap throwaway camera and do not show the detail.   This garment was created about 1991 and at the time was a very expensive commission.

Other fibonacci commissioned waistcoats are shown below: