Quilt As Art: Valuing Our Work, Tara Faughnan

I had an inspiring time at QuiltCan in Phoenix last month, but I purposely did not attend any of the lectures. I find the whole experience to be overwhelming, for one thing. Another is that while on site, I want to spend as much time with the quilts as I can, and finally, I find the leture hall to be too big. I am naturally antsy and to be in an auditorium with row after row of people is just not my idea of fun. So streaming the lectures at home hits all the right notes for me. I took an all day class with Tara Faughnan and it was amazing to be in the room with her for a day and to see her numerous featured quilts in the exhibit hall was an added bonus. Her keynote talk walked us all through her career as a modern quilter, her lack of success in the more traditional quilt world, and how her work fit so perfectly with the modern quilting sensibility, and how nourishing that was for her as an artist. That was all great to hear, but when she talked about quilting as art, how to value what we produce, and how it connects us to generations of quilters who came before us, that really resonated with me. I love those connections, feeling like I am walking in the footsteps of earlier family members--my great grandmother quilted--and to treasure and value my deep seeded love of fabric. She talked about her own drive, which is greater and more talented than my own, but coming from the same place when all is said and done.