Local Artist Works with a Silk Scarf Canvas

A Mount Vernon woman combines artistry and philanthropy with Laura Quilty Designs.  The company also has a separate effort called “Color Your Cause” that works with foundations to design scarves in the name of charity.

In 2006, Laura Quilty decided it was time to jump back in the artistic game.  She used to paint murals and create faux finishes when someone suggested working with silk scarves.

“I’ve always been an artist,” Quilty said.  “I was working in my children’s school and ordered some silk scarves and starting messing around with it.”

Thus Laura Quilty Designs was born.  Quilty custom dyes scarves and makes custom rings to go with them.  She got the idea for Color Your Cause right before Christmas, 2010.

“I was contacted by an autism association for scarves and scarf rings,” Quilty said.   “So I started doing that. I mostly work with foundations.  They can sell them for fundraisers and they make a great gift for donors.”

Quilty said she works with a lot of different organizations and she’s even in the early stages of potentially designing a scarf for Larry King’s cardiac foundation.

She said once her kids went back to school, she was anxious to get back to work.

“I was getting bored and I had to do something creative. I really missed that side.  I was just happy that I was able to find a niche in something that was not that common,” Quilty said.

For more information on Quilty’s efforts, click here.