Molas

I get so much good advice from you!!!  Order ONE pair of shoes and if they fit, buy two more instead of buying three at once. OK -- I NEED to order that first pair today. My current shoes are way past the expiry date. I won't lose the extra pairs - they go in the hall closet. Ordering those shoes HAS to be on the list of things to do today. I see my Windows Explorer windows all shut down last night, so I need to find the shoes again.

I am terrible about closing the windows at the end of the day or when I'm done. OK -- so I never seem to finish with the links; they are open because I haven't had a chance to fully explore that website yet. I'm bad. OK -- I finish with websites and close them, but I also leave many open at once. 

It was a bit of an intense morning as I finished the prep for the Color Theory class. It was two hours long, which I thought would be tough on the participants and me. It was a LOT of information, and it might be better over two sessions, but WOW -- so much great information. I impressed myself!! I'll be rerunning it in the fall. And NO - I haven't uncovered that darn missing quilt. I'll try to find it later today. I  swear it's in those tubs of "to be quilted" stuff. 

Here's the sad thing about those bins. Looking at all those tops brought back some great memories of fun times sewing them. A class or a special thing for me. Now to squeeze in some time to get to work on them. Wouldn't it be great to get ONE done a week? That would take me over five years to clear that mess! I do have about 5 that are on the current list for quilting, and I haven't got to them yet. BUT, I plan to take some time over the summer, and I'll work on some of those. 

I'm just going to have to retire to find time, but I'm not ready yet. There's still a class or two within me. 

I did get some sewing done last night, but I needed a break yesterday, and I enjoyed the backyard quite a bit while I finished my book on The Pursuit of Endurance. How fitting! While that book was about walking long distances in a short period of time, endurance applies to anything. You have to put your mind to a goal and go for it. 

It was windy yesterday, so these chimes were ringing merrily, and it was glorious. If you don't have a gazebo, you should test it out. I probably wouldn't spend nearly as much time outdoors if I didn't have the gazebo. I thank the previous house owners for leaving that. 

The wind chimes

In my sewing, I managed to empty another mini-design board. I'm getting there, slow and steady! Remember, I'm the turtle, not the hare!!!

One more mini design board - EMPTY

Gosh -- don't forget that Quilt Canada is NEXT WEEK!!! The last day to signup is June 15 (I think), and I need to get that done. TODAY!!

So yesterday you saw that I rescued a book from someone who was cleaning their stash. I've rescued more than a few books over my time, as well as magazines. I know there'll come a day when I've got to cull, and I'm not sure how I'll deal with that. But I'll figure it out when it's time. It's not time yet. 

I quite frequently go through my baskets of fabric. I definitely have a new style of what I buy that's evolved over the years. That doesn't mean I won't use what I already have - it's just different. But I got a chuckle when I was going through the blue bin. I swear I purchased these fat quarters (and there's one more just like it) almost 20 years ago. And the elastic has never come off!!! But I HAD to have it. 

Never opened fat quarters

I think I'm going to have to go through the bins with the plan of making a quilt with just polka dot fabric or other schemes. And I used to be very sentimental about the fabrics, but not any longer. I feel that many of them will just get cut up into small pieces and made into scrap quilts as they really aren't my style any longer. That doesn't mean I want to part with them yet. I have the room to store them, and I'm not adding to the mess. But when it comes time to downsize, those prints will be the first to go. That won't happen for quite some time, so I get the joy of looking at them each time I sort through the baskets. 

OK -- so I received an e-mail a while back, and would I like a Mola? Hmm - I already have some, but I decided that I would rescue this one as well. 

We settled on a price, and I went to pick it up. When I got home, I realized that there were THREE Molas in the bag. Yikes - I stole them. Oh well, she wasn't clear what it was she was selling. This was a lady who was downsizing and wanted to get rid of them. 

These are the three that I got. I've seen the small ones before, same for the middle size, but I had never seen the larger size. 

Three new Molas

That meant that I had to dig the ones out that I have. There are all different styles, it's totally fascinating. If you're wondering what a Mola is, they are handwork done by the Kuna Indians in the San Blas Islands, near Panama. The ones done on the burgundy fabric are many layers of fabric, and the technique is reverse applique. The large one and the smaller ones are mostly appliqued on the surface, not reverse, and do not comprise multiple layers. I think those are the ones geared to the tourist trade as they can make them faster. 

The more elaborate ones were made for their blouses, like this one below, which still has some trim attached to the top. OH MY GOD -- thank goodness I write a blog. I forget everything. I couldn't remember where I got this Mola. I searched my blog and there it was!!!! The story on how I found this one. If ever you want to find something that I talked about, just put the search word in that big white bar at the top and if that word appeared in a past post - you get the posts!!!  It seems that I have other books on Molas as well! Ooops. 

A MOLA with the top trim still attached

This is the first one I ever bought. I bought it from a teacher of mine, and she charged me a HUGE amount of money, but I didn't know any better at the time. 

Elephant on the Mola

Then somewhere along the lines, I've acquired a few others, and they are absolutely stunning. The workmanship is amazing. 

A MOLA bird

Here's what the back of the pieces looks like. The orange is the back of the bird above, and that orange that outlines the bird is the multiple layers cut way back to the backing. The other one is just an ugly piece of fabric that doesn't show to the front. 

The backs of the Molas

Here's the one with the four little motifs that I rescued. 

Four small motifs

And here's one with two motifs. I didn't realize until I pulled them out how different all the styles were. 

Two panels

And here are two of the simple motifs that I've acquired over the years. I know - excessive!!! 

Two simple Molas

Here's a close-up of the one that I rescued. Hey -- it's me - the turtle!!! Slow and steady!!!

A simple turtle Mola

And here's the large one. 

A huge Mola

As I was going through the bucket of black fabric the other day, look what I found! A MOLA print. That's hilarious, but it would make a perfect backing for these pieces. 

Mola printed fabric

OK -- so it's time to get at least one of these things made into something. There's not enough room around them to stretch on a frame, although borders could be added to make that happen. I do like to showcase textile art around the house, and this would be awesome. I might try that with one of the large ones; actually, it would be great to do with one of each size. I should try that with one of the little ones. 

Then I think a journal cover would be great to make with one of the small ones. That's easy to stabilize and stitch into place. Now to put my thinking cap on to see what to do with the others. 

Of course, I have a book. WAIT -- I have TWO books on Molas. I've left them out so I can actually browse them. The books are gorgeous and filled with HUNDREDS of different styles. 

The Mola by Edith Crouch

Magnificent Molas by Michel Perrin

I just started reading a new book called The Art of Gathering, which is hilarious since we can't gather at the moment. But the concept is pretty interesting - why do we gather when oftentimes we don't want to. Or we get nothing from it. How many useless business meetings have you attended in your life? How many guild meetings did you go to and didn't get anything out of them? Etc. The intent of this book is to have gatherings, but be very MINDFUL of the purpose of that gathering so that people will walk away refreshed and excited! 

I think that's going to be an important thing as we go forward. I don't mind gathering, but do NOT waste my time with something that can be done differently. I hate rehashing the same old - gather the data and make a decision. So I'm going to be VERY careful with how I give out my precious time in the future. Well, I hope I will. 

The book was written in 2018, so before the pandemic hit. This book is from the library, and I NEED to stop using the library - I have a ton of books that I've purchased, and those should be my priority!!! Not only is there a ton of books downstairs, but I have books in the office, as well as in the family room—time to read them and then get rid of them. Or make them into journal covers, as my friend Katheleen is doing. Her work is STUNNING. 

On that note, I'm off to get the day started. I have two classes this morning and the afternoon is free. As if I could just take the afternoon off. Well, I just might - it's going to be an action-packed week, and I need some downtime just like everyone else!!

I listen to pop radio, and why does it seem that every fourth song is Justin Bieber??? What's with that? The guy has so many top songs right now. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!