A modern textile artist bringing heart, purpose, and bold design to our Mystery with a Mission.

This May, we are thrilled to spotlight Tara Evans as both our featured designer and the force behind Clue 4 of the Cotton Cuts Mystery Quilt with a Mission.

Known online as @taraleequiltery, Tara is a Canadian-American textile artist and quilt pattern designer whose work is anything but ordinary. Her quilts are bold, graphic, dynamic, and deeply expressive — the kind of designs that stop you in your tracks and make you look twice. Tara thrives on dramatic layouts, striking movement, and pushing quilting beyond traditional boundaries. Whether she’s designing quilts, creating pantographs, teaching, or experimenting with textile art, her goal is always the same: to inspire quilters to think differently and create fearlessly.

For Tara, participating in Mystery Quilt with a Mission was an easy yes. After attending a class hosted by the Social Justice Sewing Academy at QuiltCon 2023, she experienced firsthand the power of quilting as a tool for connection and positive change.

“It was a profound experience and so I jumped at the opportunity to help support them again through this project.”

That passion for purpose shines through in everything Tara creates. Her work is driven not only by creativity, but by a strong belief in inclusion, representation, and helping the quilting community grow into a more welcoming and supportive space for everyone.

And if you think Tara’s quilting style sounds unique, wait until you hear what’s currently on her sewing table. She’s developing a fascinating social media series called Can I Personify a Sawtooth Star? In the project, Tara randomly selects a human emotion and then redesigns a sawtooth star block to visually embody that feeling. Through shape, color, scale, materials, and piecing techniques, she transforms a classic quilt block into something entirely unexpected and emotionally expressive.

It’s the perfect example of what makes Tara’s work so compelling: she invites quilters to rethink what’s possible.

Another thing that may surprise people? Tara rarely quilts from someone else’s pattern. In fact, she can count on one hand the number of times she has done so. For her, designing and solving the “math puzzle” behind a quilt is just as rewarding as sewing it together.

“Skipping straight to the making step would take half of the enjoyment away from me.”

That love of design naturally led Tara into pattern writing, where she has now created more than 30 original patterns. Her designs are often described as modern, striking, bold, and highly graphic — a reflection of her fearless approach to quilting and artistic expression.

As our featured designer for May and the mastermind behind Clue 4, Tara brings a fresh perspective and creative energy to Mystery Quilt with a Mission. We cannot wait for detectives to see how her imaginative style unfolds within the mystery.

Get ready, detectives — Clue 4 is sure to challenge you in the very best way.

Proceeds from the raffle support the Social Justice Sewing Academy, empowering youth through sewing, storytelling, and community connection. Every ticket sold moves this mission forward.

Purchase your chance to win:
$5 for one ticket | $20 for five tickets
https://bit.ly/support-SJSA