The Mola Quilt Challenge - Holy Mola

A few months ago Pat Pauly challenged us to a "Holy Mola" competition. We were to take a mola purchased from me as an inspiration for a quilt. The mola could not be used in the quilt and had to be one we owned and still own. Quilts could be any size but needed to be at least 24" square. A dinner and show at the end would celebrate our efforts. 19 people responded to the challenge. Our wonderful dinner and party took place last night. Photos courtesy of Pat Pauly. www.patpauly.com

For photos of the dinner visit www.decampstudio.com

The Inspiration mola



The resulting quilt by Linda Bachman


The inspiration mola
The resulting quilt by Pat Berardi which won an honorable mention in the judging.


The inspiration mola

The resulting quilt by Karen Betlinski

The inspiration mola

The resulting quilt which won an honorable mention by Beth Brandkamp.





The inspiration mola
The quilt by Liz Cocuzzi







The inspiration mola
The resulting quilt by Marcia DeCamp which was the Grand Prize Winner!

The inspiration mola

The resulting quilt by Nancy Hicks

My inspiration mola...an apple sliced through the center.
My mola which was heavily beaded.

The inspiration mola
The quilt by Beth Kondolf
The inspiration mola

The quilt by Diane Miller.

The inspiration mola

The quilt by the Party's organizer, Pat Pauly

The inspiration mola

The quilt by Janet Root
The inspiration mola
The quilt by Val Schultz


The inspiration mola
The quilt by Jeanne Simpson
The inspiration mola


The resulting quilt by Ren Vasiliev

Mola for Sale

I am still making an attempt to downsize my stash of molas . This is a particularly beautiful one of a boy on a bird, The writing is "Pequeno Nijs" or Little Nijs. I don't know what Nijs means other than a name. The Kuna tell their children that babies are brought into the world on the backs of animals such as this giant bird. The workmanship is fantastic. Note the detail and tiny stitches on the face. And the tiny appliqued triangles, and the ric rac like like trim under NIJS on the right. That is all applique.
There are even embroidered bows on the shoes. And note the beautiful embroidery via tiny tiny stitches all over the mola. I can't imagine how long that took.
The stripes on the wings are all fine applique. And the blue bows on his overalls are also appliqued.


SOLD

My Trip to Panama

Hotels in Panama which I have been staying in have gone up around 50% or more in the last two years. A hotel I liked two years ago at $27 a night is now $48 for example. And since I spend only 6 hours or less in a room the night I arrive I don't want to spend a fortune. I want clean, safe, a hot shower and no bugs. This is my new room in an older section for $36 with sparkling clean white marble floors and a marble lion outside the front door of the hotel. It also had a nice restaurant which i never had time to eat in. The morning after I arrive its off to the Domestic airport at 4:30 am for a 6 am flight to the San Blas Islands.

We landed at Carti, an airport on the mainland. Some of the boats at the dock.

Some Kuni's landing on the mainland. Note the lack of traditional clothing.

On my first morning there my guide, Orlando, usually takes me on a walk around the island to purchase molas. I was asked to wait in this outside kitchen while some women went to fetch their molas. Great opportunity to snap a couple of photos. They are grating cocoanuts on the floor. I would love to take photos inside one of the houses but didn't dare even ask. I usually find at least a dozen women to purchase molas from. On this trip I found very few women selling them.

I spotted quite a few turtles wandering around various islands.

My boat was a carved out log with some trim and leaked. We would start off dry as a bone and have water sloshing around the bottom well before we returned. A bit unsettling.

One of the Columbian trading vessels which stocks the small stores on the islands. They trade for cocoanuts.

My first days purchases back in my room. Now I will have the laborious job of taking the blouses apart.

Day two three kuna women came over from another island and rode with us to our destination. I would have loved a closer photo but that was not possible.

We arrive on Malatupu and Orlando (barefoot of course) leads the way.

School children. They wear similar uniforms on all the islands.

Every island has a yard for basketball or other sports.

A local shaman took me into his hut and explained the use of medicinal pots (I bought a mola with them on which you can see on previous blogs)

We stopped on another island for lunch which we brought with us. I was offered a low carved out log to sit on as no one seemed to have the plastic chairs found everywhere. No chairs...but a cold Coke Zero was easily procured. And this darling little girl tried to lure me into purchasing her beautiful mola. At $50 I had to refuse

Lots of beautiful sail boats and an occasional big yacht anchor near the islands.

This house has a draped passageway to the outhouse and possible bathing area.

Back on my island a birthday party was going on in the yard next door. Unfortunately it would have been impolite to take a closer photo. The children were seriously well behaved and had a pinata, played games and sang songs.

Off to the airport. It was an hours ride over the water to Carti, an airport on the mainland. And we left in pitch dark with me hoping the boatman could find his way in the dark through the channels surrounding all the islands. With lightning striking in the distance I sat wondering what lightning did when it struck boats. The landing field begins in the woods and ends in the water.

The restaurant

The barefoot Kuna station manager discusses the situation with a Panamanian soldier. At first it was announced (in broken English) that the plane wasn't coming. It had gone to another airport instead.

After a fretful half hour (there is no second flight here...the next one is tomorrow) it was announced that the plane was coming after all. Whew!

Checking the Panama City skyline in the way in. When you arrive in Panama City from the San Blas Islands you have to show your passport to be allowed back in the "country". The reverse is true on the Islands where you also have to check in with your passport and pay a visiting fee, in my case $6 for three days. The Islands are a separate territory co-governed by the Kuna and by Panama.