Speaking of Molas – Here’s a Special One
Barbara Campbell, a quilt designer and friend who lives in New Jersey, found a mola to purchase at a garage sale a few years ago. Like one of the molas in my collection, it is framed. This one is double-framed under glass and its new owner states that “it appears to float on the kitchen wall.” Framing is certainly one way to help preserve textiles, and framing under glass is the most desirable situation, if a textile is to hang in a kitchen where, unseen grease and smoke from cooking can do long-term damage.
Keep in mind that molas are always made in pairs, as nearly duplicates, as is possible to make, by the Kuna tribal women (and men) who produce them. Often, we see molas for sale that have uneven, or ragged edges. That is due to the fact that they have already “lived a life” as part of a now disassembled blouse (one mola panel on the lower front, and one on the lower back of the blouse). Often, flimsy, see-through fabrics of man-made fibers are used for the upper part of the blouse, as well as the sleeves.
The Kuna Indians have found it profitable to disassemble old and unwanted blouses and tourists do no seem to mind the fact that they are purchasing used goods. Of course, that is not always the situation.
Nonetheless, the artistry of the mola is desirable in terms of art and symbolism. Often, the Spanish words that appear on molas are misspelled because Spanish is NOT the native language of this native Indian tribe.
I have mentioned recently the links to files on my website, for more information. Rather than hunt them down again, I invite you to use the site navigation bar on our website, or else, scroll back to previous blogs about molas that contain the links.
Thank you, Barbara, for sharing yet another mola example with us. Molas are like Halloween candy corn. You can’t have just one. I can bet that you will catch the mola “bug,” Barbara, and before long, you will collect others!
You can visit Barbara’s two online sites: a website, “Love in Stitches,” and a blog, “Defining the Inner Muse.”
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
November 7th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Thanks for showing off my treasure. Better than collecting these pieces of art, why don’t you and I challenge each other to make one in all our spare time (LOL)!
November 7th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Barbara – I have already re-created one in my collection. It needs some additional top surface embroidery, but other than that, all the channels, etc. are done. It was a fun challenge. I believe I stopped working on it because I could not find a thin, shiny thread that would simulate what was used in the original. If I can find the appropriate thread sometime, I’d like to finish it. Even so, to show the original alongside my reproduction is an example to students to show the stages of development.
Try it, you’ll like it! Pat
November 7th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
This is a beautiful piece. Thanks for sharing it.