Patchwork Lab: Gemology

Book excerpt: Bring on the bling! A step-by-step guide to achieving expert color-work with fabrics to create dynamic, glittering gemstone-themed quilts Quilting expert Andrea Tsang Jackson guides readers through transforming the beauty, allure, and power of natural stones into glittering complex patchwork quilts. She provides a master plan for the color work required to achieve effective transparency and light with fabric selection. Readers will be able to paper piece their way to a jewelry box of blocks. Beginning with nine traditional gemstone shapes, such as teardrop, marquis, and emerald cuts, each block progresses in complexity so quilters can hone their skills as they work their way through the book. Then, quilters will be inspired to use their blocks in a series of projects, both large and small. Created with intermediate quilters in mind, the book includes: Jackson's speedy chain-piecing technique for paper piecing; graded patterns to create the perfect finished block size; traditional and modern settings; watercolor illustrations of gemstones.