Emilie Trahan: Improv Quilting: Quilt as You Grow

Emilie will share her personal quilting journey and creative process and will discuss how improvisation can be implemented in our quilts.

Emilie lives in Quebec and is a French Canadian modern quilter by night, and a palliative care physician by day. Her work is centered around improvisation and she is passionate about curves and colors.

She started quilting in 2013, during her medical residency years. This gave her the opportunity to balance her work / studies with some manual and creative projects.  She had a sewing machine, a bunch of old clothes and fabrics, and her interest was sparked after finding a quilt and a note addressed to her by her grandma, when emptying her house after her sudden death.  

 So many things about quilting convey love; the warmth, softness, time, patience, and the unique nature of each piece of work. All the elements were there to push her to attempt a quilt of her own. To say she was hooked from the beginning would be a lie. Emilie found each project so long and the process sometimes tedious. So, for the first years, she was working on some quilts here and there, sometimes putting off a project for weeks or months. But in 2017 she discovered modern and improv quilting. Her hobby then became a passion (or obsession!).  

 Emilie is self-taught and she sees every quilt as an experiment, so improvisation comes very natural to her. She doesn't like having a clear plan, but prefers to play with fabrics and see where it takes her. She is inspired by so many things--from visual arts to nature, everything can become a quilt. Emilie mostly does curved piecing and she loves seeking to create, with movement and colors, something that feels organic. Mainly, she just tries to have fun!

And, her quilt “Blooming” was Best in Show winner in QuiltCon 2021.  Congratulations Emilie!

Émilie Trahan (@mili.tra) • Instagram photos and videosinstagram.com