Panamanian Mola

A Mola? What's that? OK, let's ask Wikipedia. 

A Mola is a fabric panel made and used by Kuna women of Panama to create their beautiful traditional outfits.  The panels are made by reverse appliqueing and then cutting away the top layer to reveal the colorful fabric underneath.

Authentic Mola includes hundreds of pieces and very tiny hand stitching.  Quilt shows occasionally have booths that sell products made from Mola pieces.  I bought a pair of Mola shoes at a show in Iowa that are absolutely adorable.

Cathy Miller, also known as the singing quilter, taught a workshop in Leavenworth this past fall, called Mock Mola. It was "mock" because we used machines and raw edge applique. It was "mola" because the process is similar to, and some of our designs were inspired by, traditional Mola.

We drew the design on thin quilting paper, attached it to the back of a quilt sandwich, sewed on the lines, and then cut away the top layer to show the fabric underneath. In order to make my simple mola more in line with traditional mola, I used different colors of batiks in different sections of the sandwich, so that when the top layer of black batik was cut away, surprise!! different colors of batiks showed through. It's important to use batik or other tightly woven fabric to limit fraying when cutting the top layer away.

OK, so when creating this design, I had so many ideas, that I will probably do several more of these. I'd also like to try making one with more, smaller motifs - more like the traditional ones. Cathy Miller was a great teacher, so if you have a chance to take a class from her, I highly recommend it. 

Like Mola? Try it, you'll enjoy it!