Weaving threads of life.
Ixchel is the developing social arm of MamaQuilla. Where the brand circulates and co-creates textiles, Ixchel works to strengthen the communities behind them, so that weaving remains not only alive but economically secure in the hands of the women who practice it.
It is not a charity. It is being built as a hybrid social initiative: one that helps weaving communities grow more resilient and self-directed, rather than more dependent.
Ixchel is the Mayan goddess of weaving, the moon, medicine, and feminine creative power. She is often shown weaving on a backstrap loom, holding what the Maya called the thread of life, the thread that runs through birth, water, and the connection between all living things. In the old stories, it was Ixchel who taught the first women to weave.
To name this work after her is to honor that lineage: weaving not only cloth, but resilient networks of care, continuity, and autonomy. Where MamaQuilla takes its name from the Inca moon goddess, Ixchel takes hers from the Maya.
Two moons, watching over the same thread.
Ixchel is being built as a partnership between MamaQuilla and Favela Inc. MamaQuilla brings textile knowledge, direct relationships with weaving communities, and bridges between those communities and markets in the global north. Favela Inc. brings hard-won experience in community incubation, governance, and helping initiatives grow from within marginalised contexts.
The principle behind it is simple. Commercial growth funds social strengthening, and social strengthening, in turn, builds lasting resilience. The two arms are designed to support one another.
Ixchel is at the very beginning. The work has not yet started in earnest, and we are honest about why: even the first step needs funding.
That first step is not to build, but to listen. Before anything is made or put in place, we want to go to each community and understand their needs better, in their own words. Different communities face different realities, and the worst thing we could do is arrive with a fixed plan. What we are seeking funding for, first, is the work of assessment: spending time with each community, understanding their needs better, and only then building the right infrastructure from what we have heard.
There is something we have come to understand about working with Indigenous communities. We do not make promises we cannot be certain of keeping. A broken promise creates disappointment, and it can reopen the wounds of a long colonial history in which outsiders arrived, took, and left nothing behind. So we hold trust and transparency at the center of every relationship. We move slowly, stay in constant communication, and keep each community honestly informed of where things stand. These are long relationships, built to last.
It is slow, and it is deliberate. It is the same principle that built MamaQuilla itself: presence before action, and listening before doing.
As it grows, Ixchel's work is taking shape around five pillars.
A fund, governed by the communities themselves, for equipment, dye gardens, working capital, youth programs, and shared infrastructure.
Training in the skills that reduce dependency over time: pricing, financial literacy, digital storytelling, export readiness, governance, and passing knowledge to the next generation.
Multi-day experiences in weaving, natural dyes, and cosmovision, hosted by the communities, with the revenue shared directly with them.
Paid workshops and talks abroad, led by master weavers, that shift how their work is seen and bring income home.
A gathering across Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and beyond, for weavers to mentor one another, share what works, and build solidarity across borders.
Ixchel is being designed with communities, not for them. The intention is participatory governance, with artisan-majority decision-making and the power for communities to say no. Reporting will be transparent, agreements will be shared fairly, and the communities will keep ownership of their own resources and their own stories.
The aim, in the end, is not dependency but autonomy: weaving communities that govern their own resources, pass their knowledge to the young, and meet the world on their own terms.
Ixchel is still being built, and it will grow with the people who choose to be part of it. If you are a potential funder or partner, or simply someone who believes in this work, we would be glad to hear from you. A full plan is available on request.
Get in touch →MamaQuilla grows slowly. Leave your email to receive word of new pieces, upcoming events, and the stories behind the collections.
We write rarely, and with care.
