Edited by Jane Rosemarin
Zoe’s Swirl is named for the designer’s daughter. See PDF diagrams.

This is a design I came up with by trying to figure out the answer to the following question: “Are there multiple ways to fold a sailboat?” At a bare-bones level, the units that make up this modular are in fact simple sailboats. These, after an open sink, an inside reverse fold and several other folds, are the basis of this pretty modular, which I have named Zoe’s Swirl.

I designed this in 2020 after the birth of my daughter in September 2019. It is named for her and is the first model I created after her birth. So, this one is really special to me.

I used an open sink to form a sailboat and then proceeded to create a ring by interlocking multiple units. The color change you see in the model takes advantage of the duo-colored paper I used, along with an angular fold that allows the underlying color to show on the finished model.

This model is made up eight units, each folded from a 4-inch (10 cm) square. The completed ring is approximately 6 inches in diameter. A little bit of folding experience is required as the folding sequence incorporates an open sink and an inside reverse fold among other moves.