Zak Foster

Your partner’s Mamaw was a big inspiration in your quilting journey. How did she introduce you to the wonderful world of quilting?

Mamaw was the first real quilter I ever met. She had grown up quilting with her mom and sisters and knew a lot of the traditional East Tennessee quilting techniques. I remember the one she loved the most was how to self-bind a quilt using the fabric from the back. When we first met and she found out I was a quilter, she took me by the hand and led me to the linen closet where she stored all her quilts. And one by one she would pull out each quilt, run her fingers down the stitches, and she could say which stitches she had sewn, which stitches her sister had sewn and which stitches her mom had sewn. She could read that quilt like a book. I didn’t know a whole lot about hand sewing then, so seeing her do this was simply amazing to me.

Are there any other creators or people in your life who have inspired your work?

Today it is important to me that the quilts I love so much don't have a harmful effect on the planet.