Transmissions (Quilts for Trans People)
Transmissions is a project that makes quilts for trans people. In Maine, it will commission three trans quilters to make quilts for three trans recipients. The project makes quilts because of the way they increase comfort and enhance belonging. Quilts live in a rich history of mutual aid and care-work that has enabled the survival of marginalized groups across generations. The Maine chapter is part of a broader endeavor that will make 20 quilts over two years for trans people around the country. The Kindling Fund will also support the project in welcoming a traveling exhibition to Maine in fall 2025, which will pair with a collection of engagement events teaching textile and oral histories skills to communities in Portland.
Artist bios
Travis Clough (he/they) grew up in Bucksport, Maine, in a quilting & sewing household, annoyingly being dragged along to fabric stores when he'd rather have been outside skating or climbing trees. It wasn't until his 20's and in early transition when he wanted
packing underwear that didn't exist yet and his friend offered to show him how to sew. Shortly thereafter, he moved to San Francisco and after feeling the crushing weight of homesickness, decided to take a quilting class thinking this might help. It didn't take
away the homesickness for Maine, but it did kickstart his love of quiltmaking!
Over the next decade, he made quilts for friends and family, and in 2014 taught his first quilting class called Queering the Quilt in Portland, Oregon at In Other Words Bookstore. Since then, he has since moved back to his home state of Maine and teaches monthly quilting classes and workshops at various locations around the greater Portland area. In 2023 he approached a friend about a Maine-trans centered quilt exhibit which in turn grew into a larger shared trans/non-binary centered exhibit featuring two artists and 10 trans/non-binary Maine quilters in a show called Home/Safe. Along with his love of quilts, Travis makes outdoor gear and bags under the name T Bag. His love of teaching people to quilt, along with creating a community of queer & trans quilters, led him to start a monthly gathering called Quilt Club in Westbrook. Next spring, he is co-curating a show with Sam Bullard at the Rock and Art Shop centering queer artists from the greater Bangor Area.
Maine Collaborating Artists
Dan Toomre (he/him) grew up outside Seattle, Washington. Surrounded by a wide range of inspirations such as his quilter mother, her textile artist friends, and dozens of quilt shows, he rather pointedly decided to have nothing to do with the fiber art scene for many years, before picking up embroidery as a way to embellish his paintings. The love for fiber art quickly spiraled out of control, eventually leading him to pursue a Textiles and Fashion BFA at Maine College of Art and Design, (as well as his master’s in Art Education). For Dan, the act of daily hand stitching is a connective, meditative practice, and he makes sure to fit in at least 15 minutes of it, whether it be applique, hand quilting, or thread painting. He’s been living in Portland, Maine, quilting and researching textile history. Dan teaches embroidery and sewing locally, and occasionally finishes projects.
Maddy Magnuson (they/them) was born in 1991 and raised by their mother in Sacramento County, CA. Their mother taught them to sew and while growing up they enjoyed making elaborate halloween costumes, renaissance faire garb, and prom clothes. Maddy moved to Maine in 2009 to attend College of the Atlantic where they mostly studied gender and sexuality studies and documentary video. After college Maddy made their first lap quilt for their farm boss. Without a machine they used needle turn applique to hand quilt a scene of the farm’s field with a border of vegetables. After a sewing hiatus, Maddy rediscovered their love of quilting during the COVID pandemic when they took an Intro to Quilting class with Travis in 2022. Using a small Brother machine they found for free on Queer Exchange Maine, they have sewn eight quilts since finishing Travis’s class. Maddy finds inspiration in vibrant colors, creating unique pieces for friends and family, and trying new quilting techniques. Maddy lives in Bath with their child, partner, dog, and two cats. When they are not quilting, Maddy can be found following their toddler around the neighborhood, gardening, wandering in the woods, and promoting comprehensive and inclusive sexuality education as a staff person at Maine Family Planning.
California Project Leads
Cordy Joan (they/them) is an educator, oral historian and quilter based in California. They’ve taught at Berkeley High School, El Cerrito High School, The Athenian School and a number of other queer art programs. They are the lead producer of the Transmissions quilt project, an international queer quilting project convening a team of other queer and trans artists to make quilts for trans people.
Nino Claveria (they/them) is a poet, cook, youth worker and multimedia artist. They have taught high school in Oakland Unified School District for five years and are now in the Smith College School of Social Work in training to become a youth therapist. They published a chapbook Transmissions: Late Night Calls with Terrible Angels with Clones Go Home Press, of which the Transmissions Quilts Project draws its name. They are the co-director of this quilts project with an emphasis on building the trans oral histories archive.
Social media
Travis Clough | website | Instagram
Cordy Joan | Instagram
Maddy Magnuson | Instagram
Dan Toomre | Instagram
Cover image: Travis Clough, quilts, assorted reclaimed fabric Dimensions: 5’x6’, 4’x6’, 2021-22.