I was recently asked to put my art on a clothing and accessories line at VIDA, an eco-friendly, worker-friendly, literacy-supporting company. Enjoy!
I have always loved to work with thread and pretty cloth. I started embroidering when I was a young girl, and made my first art quilt when I was 19 for my first son, a piece called Child Holding the World. Although I appreciate traditional quilt styles and their multiple applications with color and pattern, I am drawn more to intuitive expression. Each Mandala quilt begins as a triangle on a single sheet of graph paper. It unfolds little by little as I fill in the space with fabric shapes and colors that are always a surprise. I never know what is going to grow from the center.
These quilts are intended as mandalas. I love creating mandalas because they are an expression of fragments making a whole. I believe mandalas help to focus and open our hearts. They make us aware of our center and also our radiance. They nurture our soul purpose, and harmonize and balance our homes. I delight in custom orders, so please feel free to contact me at lily@lilyswan.com to co-create a unique piece.
Mandala Quilts:
the process
Off the Grid Fiber ™ is Lily Swan’s home spun cottage industry based in Hana, Hawaii. All quilts are machine-pieced on a solar powered sewing machine. They are then hand-quilted and hand embroidered.