About Joy

Hello!

Welcome to my studio. My name is Lillis Joy and I like to make things. Most of the things I make involve fabric, and most of the fabrics I love are African, though there is certainly more than that here.

I started learning to sew in 2003 when my housemate Kattie helped me make curtains for my bedroom. I bought my first sewing machine in 2004 – a little BabyLock Denim Pro – and have been on a slow exploratory journey ever since. I say ‘slow’ because my full-time job and many travels often get in the way of extended time in any creative space. Even so, I am discovering my creative style as I explore different media and get better at basic techniques. Since I give away 95% of what I make, I started this blog to help me keep track of what I have done, why, and how.

For me, beauty is about color and contrast, tension and rest, balance and motion. I don’t yet think I do any of those well, but I am learning. Perhaps it is what I am looking for as much in life as in art.