What is a Mola?

Molas are hand reverse applique pieces of distinctive designs created by the Kuna Indians of the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama.  As I did some research, I found out that mola actually means cloth, blouse or cloud. The Kuna Indian women appliqued shapes of people, fish, animals, and plant life images to decorate their traditional blouses.  The colors are bright, featuring red and black and are often embellished with embroidery. They created designs based upon what they saw in their own environment, and used a basting method design similar to the Eye of the Beholder process.

To make a mola, you are essentially layering several pieces of fabric, and then cutting away the top fabric and hand reverse appliqueing it, one layer at a time, to the fabric beneath, to create a multi-dimensional, multi-layered piece.

I decided I had to try making one, and created a simple 3 layer mola using our 12” x 12” Block 10 pattern.  It was a fun project. It didn’t take long to do, and I thought you might like to try it, too. I recommend using batiks.

Make a Mola with Block 10

Fabric requirements/ supply list:

• Block 10 pattern, available as a print pattern or as a PDF digital pattern

• 1 – 13 ½” x 13 ½” square, background fabric (Dark Purple in my sample)

• 1 – 13 ½” x 13 ½” square, middle fabric (Yellow in my sample)

• 1 – 13 ½” x 13 ½” square, top fabric (Black in my sample)

• scraps for 5 applique circles (Blue in my sample)

• No. 7 Sharps needle for basting* ( or sewing machine with 90 needle if you wnat to try machine basting. Read blog Can you Machine Baste? March 5, 2019)

• No. 11 Milliners needle for appliqué*

• 1 spool of Button or quilting thread for basting* (CONTRASTING COLOR to top fabric)

• 1 Spool of thread for stitching (SAME COLOR as top fabric)

• 1 pair small, sharp scissors*

• safety pins for pin basting, or straight pins

• Mechanical pencil or Frixion gel pen for tracing pattern onto background fabric

• Small ruler

• Clover blue washable marker

• Helpful items: Light box or window(to trace design onto background fabric); Needle threader for small-eyed needle; Kai 4” Bent-handled slightly blunt tipped scissors*

*These items are available on the Notions page in our Shop.

I selected 3 contrasting fabrics:

1 – 13 ½” x 13 ½” Dark purple square as my background fabric

1 – 13 ½” x 13 ½” Yellow square as my middle fabric

1 – 13 ½” x 13 ½” Black square as my top fabric

Following the directions in the pattern for Pattern Marking steps 1, 2 & 3 on page 1, I traced the design onto the wrong side of my background fabric.  See below.

Next I followed the directions in the pattern for Pattern Marking step 4 on page 1, but I layered my three batik squares, instead of two, in this order: place my black top fabric, right-side down on your working surface. Lay my yellow middle batik right side down on top of that, and finally lay the right side of my Dark Purple background batik on top of that.  Pin baste through all 3 layers. See below.

Using my No. 7 sharp needle and hand cotton quilting thread or button thread I basted all the shapes that I will reverse applique. Knot off at the beginning and end of each shape. Do not carry your thread to the next shape. Notice in the picture below that I have left the circle, an applique shape, unbasted, as it should be at this time. See Pattern Marking step 5 on page 1. If you don’t want to baste by hand, you can also try basting by machine.  Read our blog Can You Baste by Machine? (March 5, 2019) .

All the reverse applique shapes are basted.

In the Block 10 pattern the appliqued circles are far enough away from the reverse applique shapes to have enough space for seam allowances, so I flipped the piece over to the front and jumped ahead a bit and basted on my blue fabric for the applique.  Follow the steps for Hand Applique. Used for Yellow accents steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 on pages 2 – 3.

Next I separated the Black top fabric away from the yellow middle fabric, to cut it away, creating a ¼” seam allowance. Follow the directions in the pattern for Trimming the pattern: steps 1, 2, 3 & 4.  Remember, the pattern uses only two fabrics, a top and background fabric.  For our mola, at this stage, treat your middle fabric as the background fabric when reading the pattern’s directions.

Continue following the directions to Hand Reverse Applique and Hand Applique. Used for Yellow accents step 5.  See below.

Now we are going to prepare our next design line in our mola.  I used a small ruler and a Clover washable blue marking pen to measure and mark 1/8” inside the reverse applique spaces. On the curved spaces I kept my ruler parallel to the black edge of the top fabric and marked a dot.  When done I connected the dots. See below. 

Once all marked, I threaded my No. 7 sharps needle with my thick hand cotton quilting/ button thread and basted on my drawn line through the yellow middle, now my top fabric and dark purple background fabric. See below.

Then I followed the directions for Trimming the pattern: steps 1, 2, 3 & 4 and Hand Reverse Applique to stitch the yellow top fabric to the Dark Purple background fabric. (pic 10) 

If you look closely at the completed picture of my mola, you will notice that I have a black and yellow ring around my center blue circle.  To do this I measured and marked 1/8” and ¼” outside the blue circle.  I then basted, and followed the directions for Trimming the pattern: steps 1, 2, 3 & 4 and Hand Reverse Applique to stitch the black top fabric to the Yellow middle fabric.

Square up and trim to 12 1/2” x 12 1/2”, being sure to center the design.

Your Block 10 Mola is done. I hope you had fun. You could use it for the side of a tote bag, add a back and turn it into a pillow, or simply layer, quilt and bind it for a table mat.

Email me pictures of what you made. I’ll post it in our Customer’s Creations Facebook album to inspire others and email you a coupon for 10% off your next purchase on our website.

Block 10 and all of our patterns are available as print patterns and as PDF digital patterns. Plus we have the notions that make doing our patterns easier available for purchase in our shop. All print patterns and notions are 19% off from March 19 - April 19th, 2020. Enter: 19OFF at checkout.

Quilting is a Creative act of Hope!

Happy Quilting!