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!!!!

Quilting quilts......................

My computer is so slow this morning, but it is my fault since I have not shut it down in a while and then I loaded a ton of pictures into Photoshop to edit. I know that I am supposed to do it in batches so I don't clog up the memory, but I wasn't listening to that voice of reason this morning.

In case you think I have been slacking off with quilting quilts - that is NOT the case. I just haven't had time to post the pictures. So here are some of the quilts I've done in the last while.

Customer quilt

Community project quilt

Community project quilt

Customer quilt

Customer quilt

Customer quilt

Customer quilt

Customer quilt

I do believe this last quilt is going to be in the Mississagua Guild Quilt Show on April 24 and 25.  I LOVE this green quilt. The colour choice  is stunning. The picture above does NOT do justice to the quilt at all. The colours are so rich and the greens are to die for and I am not that big of a green person, but if i could find a way to "steal" this quilt - yep - I would. It is a keeper for sure. But you can go and see it in person. Mark those dates - April 24 and 25 on your calendar. This quilt is our Block of the Month from 2013/2014 (OK - designed by me!) so I know there will be others there as well and will be fun to see how they different they all are.


I did get a couple of pet mats made the other day. Well I need to stitch up the opening, but it is disturbing because look what I found in the scraps!!!!!!!!!!!!

A sewing machine needle!!!!

I am not sure where the bag of scraps came from, but it had better NOT be from the sewing groups. We have a container for needles!!!!!   I must send a note to the group to remind them!!!!  Fortunately, I dump the bags onto the cutting table and "fluff" them up as I search for useable stuff. The heavier stuff like needles drop to the mat, but that is NO REASON to put needles in the scrap bags!!!!


I will post the rest of the Monday pictures later this week, but I thought you would enjoy seeing Joyce hard at work on her Freeport Gatherer bag.

Joyce with her Freeport Gatherer

 I didn't manage to get a picture of it standing up, but it is coming along rather nicely and while it looks a bit wonky in the picture, it is not that wonky when it is standing up!!!!   Oh yes - I must get my bag going again.  I need time!!!!!

Speaking of time - I watched a video last night by Julie Morgenstern.   Managing from the Inside Out which is available in book or video. Very interesting and I agree with most of what she said. The hardest thing is the self assessment - what do you want to do and something even harder - we are like kids in a candy store - we want it all. But we can never have or do it all so we have to make choices. What to chose to focus on - that is probably my biggest issue!!!!

But I like her idea of the master grocery list - I am going to make up one for us!!!!   Lots of other great tips - if you get a chance to read the book or watch the video - I would recommend it.

In attempting to do a favour for someone, I have ended up with a HUGE task. And so instead of starting it last night (OK - so I was procrastinating just like Julie mentioned on her video), I did a bit of tidying which I desperately need to get done.

So this is before

This is after

Doesn't look a whole lot cleaner, but it is. I trimmed FOUR quilts last night. And put away some of the fabric and other stuff on that cutting table.

This are went from this............

Again - not a huge difference, but every little bit helps

With the help of my craft knife, I opened up the frame which contained that MOLA and now it is free....

MOLA - I was trying to figure out what it was and I guess it is a pot of flowers

It is now hanging with my other MOLAs.   Look at the one on the extreme left. There is a band of NEON orange around the bird to highlight it!!!!   They are brilliantly done. The four big ones are "real" MOLAs, the two small ones on the right are more like applique (not reverse applique) and are produced much quicker so good buys for tourists!

 The other day, I was driving past the mall and almost fell over. What?????   What happened????   Do you see what I don't????

Taken January 31

And now - NO CRANE!!!!!

It was there just a week ago - well I am not sure, but crap - why don't I ever see them take this stuff down?????

Must go in and get some pictures from inside to see what is happening in the ball!!!!


On that note - it is time for another absolutely crazy day to begin.

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!

A treasure.................

I have developed a habit. OK - I know I have lots of habits, some of them are good, some of them not so good. Well this new habit is I like to stop at Value Village to look for treasures. I maybe stop once a month and I am really picky and choosy about what I buy.

I look at the books, then the arts and crafts, the puzzles and games, the linens (where I hope some day to find an amazing hand made quilt in pristine condition - and I keep dreaming!) - but I do pick up pillow cases for the pet mats. Then I also look in the wall art. You just never know what you will find in any of those places - I have found some neat stuff but many times I walk out empty handed.

This time I was thrilled at what I found.

A REAL Mola 

It is one of the the real ones and from the look of the top, it came from a piece of clothing. It appears to be in decent condition, perhaps a big faded, but not that bad. And the best part?????

The price!!!!!

 I have paid WAY more for real Molas in the past. A LOT more than that so I was a happy camper!!!!


We had applique club on the weekend.  What an amazing and talented group. There is loads of exciting stuff happening. Here is a couple of pictures - I will share the rest tomorrow.

Helen Anne is working on Love Entwined by Esther Liu. This was a FREE block of the month that started a couple of years ago. Very intense - you can read the story at the above link. The pattern is NO LONGER free. I know two people who are making this quilt, but it is intense!

Helen Anne with her Love Entwined

Those are itty bitty tiny circles!!!

Prepping the zig zag border around the center

Original quilt - Esther worked from this picture to make the pattern. ACK!!!!!

 Virginia is also working on a block of the month from the internet. This one is from P3Designs. You must get this pattern monthly or it is gone!!!   We are on Month three right now (I am downloading and saving, but not doing!). Virginia has been prepping and stitching - I forget how many she has done, but the blocks are gorgeous - but tiny.

One of the blocks in progress

Almost done!!!

I have lots more pictures, but will save them for tomorrow.


QUILT SHOW season is about to start. There are a LOT of shows happening this spring.

Here are two that are happening in the month of March. I am sure there are other events and you can check them out here on the Mississauga Quilt Guild web site.

The Etobicoke Quilter's Guild is Celebrating FORTY years.
Their quilt show takes place on March 27, 28, 29 - check out the link for more details.

The Region of York has their quilt show on the same weekend. March 28 and 29.


What a perfect opportunity. Why not take one day and visit both. Hey - you are out and about - might as well.  Remember to take your camera!!!!   You are searching for pictures (details - closeups are better) - anyway - you are searching for things that you like - quilting, block styles, colour and value.  Print out those pictures and put them in your inspiration book. It is also a good idea to take pictures of things that you do NOT like. Put those in your inspiration book as well or maybe another book called the UNINSPIRED book.

You also need to WRITE down why you took the picture. What exactly did you like or dislike about the elements you took.  That is a huge part of the learning experience.

I can't wait!!!!


Anyway - off to another crazy day!  Can't wait to get started.

Have a good day!!!

Ciao!!!!!!!!

Molas - Part Two

I wanted to get some literature on Molas in preparation for my demo on Sunday - OK - so I have to IMMERSE myself in the experience - can't just show up empty handed!!!!

I searched the library and they had NOTHING on molas. I called the local used book store - he was just back from vacation and not responding. NOTHING in the local Chapter's so I broke down and went online to Amazon. They had a number of books ranging in price from $10 to a couple of hundred!!!!!   Well - I hate to buy books without a good recommendation or seeing the actual book, so very carefully I read the reviews and looked at the budget and ordered the books on SUNDAY. Guess what arrived at my door on TUESDAY?????   Yep - my books - have a look.................

I recognized the cover of this book in my online searching and after a quick search of MY own library - I found it!!!!!

This is a GOREGOUS LARGE book with many coloured photos of OLDER molas

Beautiful pictures and lots of text of older molas

This book is to die for!!!!   It is HUGE and loads and loads of coloured pictures and all kinds of text!!!!

Beautiful book!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I also purchased an inexpensive book on designs which is OK. But it is a design book so I am OK with that. 

Anyway - I think I did AMAZING with just reading the reviews. I love all THREE books I purchased. However these books are NOT for loan. If you want to see them - you MUST come see my demo on Sunday, February 3rd between 2 and 4 PM at the Peel Art Gallery and Museum Archives at 9 Wellington Street in Brampton.


I did manage to download all those pictures yesterday - took forever. Now I have to find the pictures of my wild weekend and I will get myself up to date.


I did NOT take pictures, but yesterday I started taking BRIDGE lessons. I know - who would have thought!!!!!   I love it, but I never realized all the "conversations", `bidding`and other stuff that happens in the game. Yikes - I hope I remember it all for next week. It is really a lot of fun and I never was a big card person, although we played KAISER at lunch at school all the time. Now if you do not know a thing about KAISER - here is the definition that I found on the internet...............   (from Wikipedia)

Kaiser, or three-spot, is a trick-taking card game popular in the prairie provinces in Canada, especially Saskatchewan and parts of its neighbouring provinces. It is played with four players in two partnerships with a 32-card deck.

I grew up in Saskatchewan so now I know why people around here have no clue what I am talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!



Today, I taught a class at Ruti`s. It is part of the Marti Michell series. If you are NOT attending these - you are missing out on some good information. Not only do we talk about the product of the month, but lots of other things get discussed as well. Today was the Kaleido-Ruler. I forget what is next time, but the next class is at the end of March. You should come!!!!!!!!!    There are some very cool things you can do with this ruler!!!!!   So many more quilts to make!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Went to the gym this morning and my body is going to be protesting tomorrow. If I am going to be at the gym, I am going to make it worth my while. We have to partner up on Wednesday and Sophia and I have a good system going. We have a tough workout, but like I said - what`s the point if you are going to slack off!!!!!


On that note - I have a TON of stuff to do - paperwork - ACK!!!!!!!   I just can`t keep up with the administration of all these classes and committees - never mind my own stuff. And let`s not even talk about the long arm nor the piecing. 

OK - I am out of here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Have a good day and hopefully tomorrow, I will get those pictures of the wild weekend posted!!!!



Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!