STEAM Coding - TurtleStitch

This year's Turtlestitch theme is identity. What culture or pattern represent you? What are the letters of your name? What are your favorite colors? This week I am focusing on astrological signs, also known as horoscopes, which are determined by birth dates. I decided to embroider these signs because recently, I started to believe that it represents my personality pretty well. I am a Leo-Virgo cusp, and after reading the cusp is defined as "one of leadership and communication but also one of independence and secrecy," I was convinced I am a mix of the two signs. What is your horoscope? Embroider your sign! Aries (March 21 - April 19) Taurus (April 20 - May 20) Gemini (May 21 - June 20) Cancer (June 21- July 22) Leo (July 23 - August 22) Virgo (August 23 - September 22) Libra (September 23 - October 22) Scorpio (October 23 - November 21) Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21) Capricorn (December 22 - January 19) Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Pisc...

I have been working on an Alphabet project recently, and I have finally completed coding the letters. Numbers have been added as well. I recommend using the "go to x:_ y:_" block to separate the letters and create words with them! Link:  http://www.turtlestitch.org/users/jlin2017/projects/ALPHABET *Note: I may add variables soon! Happy coding! What word will you stitch? Edit: This is the link to the Alphabet with variables!  http://www.turtlestitch.org/users/jlin2017/projects/ALPHABET%20VARIABLES

I was going through the "Newest Projects" section on the Turtlestitch website, and the Grinnell Logo code caught my attention. The code influenced me to make my university's logo. Here is the link to my code.   I took Stony Brook's logo and made the background transparent on Photoshop, so I was able to see the grid around the actual logo. I then used the grid as a guide for the measurements and decreased the scale by two for the code. The stitches were then created until the distance was desired, as shown in the stitched figure below. To make the code simple, I knew the outline of the logo was symmetrical so as the turtle moves to the other side, I would duplicate the previous code and reorder the blocks. I kept the variables the same. A lot of my code used the "thickLine 30 10 0.5" block . I changed these variables when I stitched the increasing width lines in the logo and the star. Here are the functions I learned after playing around with the num...

When I was helping students the other day, a few students asked me what the certain warnings mean on Turtlestitch. The first warning a student came across was "DENSITY WARNING!" and the other warning another student received was "1 is too long! (will get clamped)." Today I will go over both of these warnings based on our observations! I hope you will find this helpful when coding. "DENSITY WARNING!" This is the link to Aaron's code: http://www.turtlestitch.org/run#cloud:Username=aaronkong&ProjectName=drawng%20GGG    This is what we found out: -the warning appears when multiple stitches overlap each other repeatedly. -the stitches become too thick. -the needle may break! The center of the design is darker than the rest of the code, and when the turtle is moving, the stitches are repeated in the same area. This makes the center dense/thick and may cause the needle to break when passing through the stitches. "1 is...

After thinking about something to code, Ms. Ettenheim asked me what culture or pattern inspires me. I thought of bohemian designs: the various colors and the symmetrical patterns. This free-flowing design has a lot of remixed shapes and has a calming effect. A lot of my photography is based on "bohemian designs" through crisp lines, colors, and symmetry: I referred my bohemian code pattern to  this image . Circles are used in-between to separate spirals from zig-zags. The spiral in the center of the linked image inspired the waves in my code, and the repetition in my code made the different patterns cohere. Feel free to look at my code here . This is the printed design! I chose to embroider with red thread over a light blue fabric to emphasize the pattern. Is there a culture or pattern that inspires you?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Suzanne Coley. She talked to me about how she loves TurtleStitch because of the ability to physically hold onto the coded artwork and how coding is a form of art. She taught me color theory and how the color thread and fabric we choose can have an effect on how the viewer sees the embroidery design. This is what I embroidered yesterday! I love the colors of the fabric, which help bring out the design of the code: the blue on the fabric corresponds with the blue of the thread the size of the red paint on the fabric is similar to the yellow thread in the center of the code  this makes the design pop and is more appealing to the eye Check out Suzanne's work:  TurtleStitch Collaboration and Suzanne's Website .

Hey all, I am back with a new blog post! I completed my first year of college, and I am excited to dedicate my time with TurtleStitch this summer with Ms. Ettenheim. In her AP Computer Science Principles and Animation courses, and she utilizes TurtleStitch to teach code. After visiting those two classes when I got back from university, I noticed how engaged her students were with TurtleStitch. The ability to visualize a code and physically hold onto a piece of fabric eases coding for anyone wanting to learn how to code. In Ms. Ettenheim's "Debugging Code" lesson, her students were able to see and feel the stitching of a code. Students analyzed what was incorrect about the stitching. They then experimented with the code and corrected it. Seeing everyone engaged in TurtleStitch and willing to learn is exciting! I will continue to assist her classes until the end of the school year. Problem: "The code repeats too many times: resulting in a thicker design" Res...