40 Bags in 40 days!

Love this idea! 40-bags-in-40-days-2015

With all the transitions in our house over the past few years, kids back and forth, moving to their adult life and the like...it is time for some streamlining of everything! Plus I am not too fond of giving up chocolate for lent! haha!

My targets will be the ridiculous collection of books we have all over, taming the paper in the office and getting the clothing to people who can use it. (let's not talk about the sewing room though) ‪#‎40bagsin40days

Finis!

Barn Stars ....bound

 

And hung in the foyer.

 

On to the next mini quilt!

TQG February- Molas!

We had an interesting presentation at the Night Chapter meeting of the Tidewater  Quilters Guild last night, “Molas in a New Light,” by Lola McCracken Lola shared her mola collection and gave a short lecture on the Kuna Indigenous people in the San Blas Islands, Panama.

 

The mola forms part of the traditional costume of a Kuna woman, two mola panels being incorporated as front and back panels in a blouse. Molas are handmade using a reverse applique technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-coloured cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible. This is achieved by using a thread the same color as the layer being sewn, sewing blind stitches, and sewing tiny stitches. The finest molas have extremely fine stitching, made using tiny needles.

 

The fiber artistry of a mola reflects the traditional oral (non-literate) Kuna culture and represents themes of Kuna life and history. Mola art developed when Kuna women were encouraged to cover their traditionally painted bare upper torso by missionaries who were offended by their toplessness! 

 

The quality of a mola is determined by such factors as

• the number of layers
• fineness of the stitching
• evenness and width of cutouts
• addition of details such as zigzag borders, lattice-work or embroidery
• general artistic merit of the design and color combination.

When Kuna women tire of a particular blouse, they disassemble it and sell the molas to collectors.

 

Molas are often sold in pairs, the pair consisting of the back and front panels of a blouse. The two molas are usually two variations on a theme. Matched molas complement each other and should be displayed or used together for the greatest impact.

 

To appeal to the tourist market, modern molas may represent non-traditional themes, like the caduceus above.

After Lola's talk, we had a demo on reverse applique. Fun!

Making Progress

 

Got the Barn Stars all pieced while watching the John Adams series on HBO Go. It has a bit of wonk, but overall I think its a decent job on a quilt with tiny pieces AND I achieved the goal of finishing the January quilt before picking up the February pack. Or at least I will have finished once this crosshatch quilting is completed!

 

Couldn't stay inside all day though, as we had a delightful break in the winter weather with highs between 65 and 70. We took a ride to the beach house to do some maintenance (I think half the light bulbs were burned out) After quick work of bulb changing, filter changing and spreading some pre-emergent weed stuff....we were off to the beach to enjoy the calm ocean, and gorgeous clear sky with other beach lovers. There was one surfer in the water, though there were no waves. When he got out of the water, he returned to his van which bore a striking resemblance to the "Mystery Machine," of Scooby Do fame!

The sunset by the sound was really pretty....

 

All in all a terrific weekend!

Barn Stars in the Little Green Schoolhouse

 

Took a day off to hang out with my quilting buddies at the beach and work on my Barn Stars quilt for January. I was thinking smaller quilt (20 x 20) faster completion....not so much. Got about 5 blocks stitched between talking, admiring other's work and eating!

 

They are cute little blocks made from little bitty pieces!

 

One of the girls finished a convergence quilt that she called, "Out of This World," by appliqueing a large "undiscovered" planet. Lots of color on this!

 Another friend was working on a really detailed crazy quilt. She has everything but the kitchen sink sewn on there and it is really fun to look at.

 

We sew in the Wanchese Community Building, which long ago served as the schoolhouse for the fishing village. There is a great sense of nostalgia and history in there.

 

 

Checked out my beach on the way home....the fishing pier is quiet with only the birds hanging around. There were some wet-suited surfers out there braving the chilly temps. Diehards.