Approximating Pi

Pi is a transcendental number. It is non-repeating. Its digits stretch to infinity. However, some mathematicians intuit that there is in fact some sort of pattern in all those numberless. As yet, no one can define it.

This is one of my favorite quilts, and one of the first ones where I began using materials other than fabric. It was 2005 and the feeling in the art quilt movement was that anything goes. Different types of fabric could be used in the same piece, including some transparent ones. Found objects were making their way to the surface. Sewing machines were also becoming very sophisticated. I programmed a series of digits from Pi into my Bernina and stitched them on pieces of fabric to use in the quilt. In this work, all sequences of numbers, be they sewn, painted, or written, actually occur in Pi.