I found Andrea Tsang-Jackson’s new book, Quilting, A Modern Creative Journey Through An Age-old Craft, fascinating. Not only for the exercises that help you design your own quilts, and encourage you to try new techniques; I also found it intriguing to see how Andrea’s mind works.
It may be her background in architecture, or maybe it’s one of the those chicken and egg things: Andrea is able to break down the creative process into thoughtful chunks that help you avoid the overwhelm of sorting through ideas to narrow your focus, and also to be more open to whatever may happen along the way.
My tendency is to flip back and forth between right- and left-brain thinking. Andrea seems to have harnessed the power of using both at the same time.
Her stated goal with the book: “Rather than explicitly teaching you to make a particular quilt, my goal is to provide insights and exercises that invite you to discover what draws you to quilting.”
She starts with short essays on creating order from (creative) chaos; trying new things in a safe environment (or safe container, as Andrea calls it); surrendering to unpredictability and enjoying the process; figuring out what makes you, you, and managing that inner critical voice; and the community aspects of quilting, unique in a creative world where artists usually work solo.
Quest 1: Trellis—Explore Line & Structure
Next, Andrea sets off on creative quests, and documents the processes she went through to create five very different quilts. She considers things like colour, texture, shape, layering, symmetry, contrast, and movement.
Quest 1: Explore Line & Structure—Learn a couple of techniques for creating thin lines—straight and curved, using both piecing and fusible bias tape—to create floral blocks.
Quest 2: Approach Quilting Like Painting—Create a playful, improv background with multiple scraps, then make cut-outs for raw-edge reverse appliqué that “reveal” the colourful background.
Quest 3: Lead the Effort to Make a Group Quilt—Tips for making group work successful by setting parameters, establishing a colour scheme and some rules around block sizes and layout, creating clear instructions, and allowing the team some freedom.
Quest 4: Capture a Moment in Time—Take inspiration from things like music, culture, history, or literature to create a theme, a colour palette, and shapes. Use a vision board of fabrics, textures, images, and objects to narrow down the important elements of your design, then make test blocks. (I could do this all day.)
Quest 5: Explore Space & Subvert Tradition—Take a traditional block and make it your own; turn it inside out, as Andrea says. She uses a Fogo Island quilt block to create a modern design that expresses the feel of that “magical place” and how she remembers what it feels like to be there.
Quest 2: Still Life—Approach Quilting Like Painting
The beauty of these quests is that you may choose to be inspired by Andrea’s prompts and then go your own way; you could opt to use her process to create a similar design; or you can follow the detailed instructions to recreate the exact same quilt, in her colours or your own. In fact, you don’t even have to create a quilt; just try the different techniques and have fun.
What I find so useful is Andrea’s breakdown of the entire creative process, which encourages you to think about every step, why you’re making the choices you do, what else you could consider, and how to use experimentation to build confidence until you’re ready to commit to a design.
In that way, this book isn’t just about quilt design and making, it’s about understanding ourselves, what we want to express, and why quilting offers us a safe and open-ended opportunity to experiment, try different techniques, and build our creative confidence.
You can purchase a signed copy of Quilting: A Modern Creative Journey Through an Age-old Craft on Andrea’s website, 3rd Story Workshop.
