Mathematical Curve Stitching Takes on the Rubik's Cube

Scrabble is definitely my pastime addiction of choice, but it's not the only game I frequent. I'm a big chess fan, crossword lover, and hooked on puzzles—any kind of puzzles. Logic puzzles, sudoko, and... the Rubik's Cube.

After seeing Cory's how-to articles on parabolic curves with straight lines and concentric circles with straight lines and circles, my immediate thought was incorporating it into a mock Rubik's Cube. Not a functional Cube that twists, but one that mimicked the size and colors.

Using Cory's articles and some more inspiration from Watermelon Lemon's designs (1, 2), I drew some parabolic curves and concentric circles on each of the six faces of the cube. I used clear plastic sheets, each matching the white (in this case, clear), green, blue, orange, yellow and red colors of the Rubik's Cube. The designs were simple, but still took me awhile...

Then I taped them together using super thin pieces of tape that I cut out with an X-Acto knife. Here's the final result (in a few different angles)...

And here it is in a side-by-side comparison to my trusty (and filthy) Rubik's Cube. Maybe it's time I get some new stickers?

Maybe one day I'll use those simple designs to make my own Rubik's Cube stickers, nine identical ones for each side of the cube.