The Works of Tara Faughnan (3)

Tara Faughnan is a quilter, teacher and pattern designer who began quilting in 2001. For many years she worked for Michael Miller Fabrics, Pottery Barn Kids and Riley Blake creating textile designs. Tara was the featured artist at this year's QuiltCon show, presented by the Modern Quilt Guild. It was fascinating to see her work in person! We hope you enjoy these photos.

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Half Square Triangles #1 (2014), 55" x 63", by Tara Faughnan

Here's a wonderful quilt made solely with half-square triangles set "on point" with high contrasts. Tara Faughnan says, "This quilt represents a big moment for me in my design journey - this was my first step into disrupted patterning.  a long time admirer of Rosie Lee Tompkins work, a master of disrupting the pattern, I carried that influence into this piece.  Using color and value to create and then blur the lines of patterning has been the focus of my work since this quilt.  The quilt was machine pieced and quilted.

Mod  Log Cabin (2013), 55" x 66", by Tara Faughnan

We love the optical illusion created in this modern log cabin quilt.  Tara says, "This quilt is one of my earliest dives into color, using different values and hues to study how colors interact. Limiting each block to a few colors allowed me to really see the effect that contrast, value and saturation had on color interaction."  It was machine pieced and quilted.

 Give and Take (2020), 59" square, by Tara Faughnan

Tara Faughnan says that the name of this quilt comes from the method of adding sashing and cutting away the background color - thus there was a give and take to each block as I created them. I attempted to create this quilt (or a version thereof) for several years before finally figuring out the piecing needed for the design.  I enjoyed the freedom of this design, and the way the shapes and colors slightly drifted as I sewed the top."

Tara says, "To finish the quilt, I chose a very set [hand] quilting design to compliment and contrast with the organic nature of the piecing."

Jubilation (2021), 62" square, by Tara Faughnan

Inspired by the colors of Mexico, Tara Faughnan says: "I created this quilt as a celebration, an expression of the joy I was feeling during the spring of 2021.  We were coming out of the long pandemic winter.  I was heading off to a coastal town in Mexico, and thinking of its bright gorgeous colors. 

Jubilation was machine pieced and hand quilted, as shown above. Tara says, "As I pieced this quilt, I put these colors together thinking of hugs and warm nights and tacos and tequila, laughter and the sound of music somewhere nearby."  

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.