About Mola Quilting

MOLA QUILTING

 A friend of mine gave me this little Mola piece of fiber art. I'm not sure where it came from, but she knew I would be intrigued by it. She explained to me that these originated in Panama by the women of Kuna. I researched a little more about this art form.  Historically, the women used to decorate their bodies with geometric figures using whatever was available to them for paint. As fabrics became available, the women started incorporating the same concept on their clothing. "Mola "actually means shirt in Dulegaya, the language of the Kuna people. 

These are very intricate pieces put together using many colors and layers of fabric in a reverse applique method. I have seen reverse applique methods used in quilting. I think if I try this method, I will start with a couple of layers. Something a little simpler. I did find some great video tutorials on Youtube for reverse applique techniques. If you are interested, just do a search--of course some are better than others so I won't link any of them here. 

What am I working on now? 

Currently, I have three quilts I'm working on. I am working on the Tropical Storm I showed you before. I keep procrastinating this one because of the level of difficulty I find in the Storm at Sea Block. But, I keep pushing a long with that one. I'm also working on an improv type quilt using some fabrics from Marcia Derse and Windham fabrics. I am loving Marcia Derse!  Having a project like this on the side of a more intense project helps me relax and just enjoy the process. This is the beginning of that quilt. 

The third one is a quilt pattern I ordered on Etsy called "Seafarer" by Quiltfabrication. This one is made with strip blocks in many shades of blue to create an ocean scene with one sailboat. It makes me think of pictures we took while visiting Seattle many times for our anniversary. I am going to add some sunset colors in the top left, not sure how that will look? 

Happy Quilting folks. I would love to hear about what you are working on! Please message me here or come see me on instagram @lesley_chandlercrafts. 

Stained Glass Quilt

 

I have always loved stained glass and I thought I would try to make a quilt that had that look. I had recently taken an online class by Caralina Oneto called Curves and Transparencies. It is a great class if you want to check it out.  So in this class, I learned a technique using Freezer paper to draw your patterns. You draw the pattern on the non-shiny side and then you cut out the pieces after numbering them. I also took pictures before I cut out the templates so I would not get too confused about where the pieces went in the quilt. This is one of my patterns that I drew out. I used plates to draw my circles and rulers for lines. 

Then, I cut out all of my templates from the freezer paper. I ironed the templates on the right sides of my fabric. Then, by using a ruler to add a quarter inch around each side of the piece of fabric, I cut pieces using my rotary cutter. I have learned that for curves, it is much easier to use a smaller rotary cutter 28mm. 

The piecing is a bit intuitive. Although you can kind of go row by row, you have to anticipate what is coming up to see how best to piece them. 

After I pieced everything, I added a 1/4" fusible bias tape to all of the seams to give it more of the stained glass look. You iron it on the the areas you want and then sew it down. This was a challenge to get the seams straight. I tried my best to have a seam going down both sides of the tape to tack it down good. I just learned yesterday that someone actually suggested using a double sewing needle so that you can sew both lines at the same time. This is something I will have to try. I also plan to use a wider tape next time. 

In keeping with the stained glass look, I added first a black border. Then I used a simple rectangle block border alternating the colors with black. Then added another black border. I decided on a black binding as well. This piece was actually inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright who was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator.