TaMara Howard is a Pittsburgh-based quilt artist, educator, and third-generation quilter whose practice is rooted in story, cultural heritage, and the traditions of quiltmaking. Inspired by family stories of her great-grandmother, quilter Maggie V. Folk McClellan (1879–1967), Howard began quilting in 1996. Thirty years later, she carries that lineage forward through what she describes as Modern Traditionalism—honoring the traditions that shaped her while allowing them to evolve through her own visual language.

 

Working from her studio in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District, Howard creates contemporary quilts that move between function and fine craft, distinguished by bold geometry, pattern, color, and an evolving exploration of culturally significant textiles. Her practice reflects an enduring affinity for Ghanaian batik while continuing to expand through her study of Indigenous and global textile traditions.

 

Howard’s work has been exhibited at regional and national venues, including QuiltCon and the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, and featured in Curated Quilts and the Modern Quilt Guild Journal. She has presented her work on University Place on PBS Wisconsin, and her quilts are held in public collections in Pittsburgh.

 

As owner of Folk Quilts LLC and founder of The Quilt Empowerment Project, Howard extends her studio practice through teaching, lectures, workshops, and community-based quiltmaking, using quilting as a means of cultural connection, creative expression, and shared experience.