Mola re-do

The mola forms part of the traditional outfit of a Kuna woman. You can see in the photo the outfit on this woman. I took this photo at a market in Casco Viejo. She is also selling traditional Panamanian handicrafts. I did not buy my mola here, but in a less touristy part of Panama city. It was a little less expensive there. I appreciate the amount of work that goes into the making of a mola and I do feel they are underpriced at times. Also, the cheaper ones are not as skilfully done. The one I bought did have a few problems for this reason, but I still thought it was beautiful.

My mola was unfinished with frayed and uneven edges. The first thing I did was try and square it so that I could add a border.

After I trimmed it back to straight edges it was not quite square so I had to do some creative quilting.

Next, I removed some appliqué that I felt was not working. You can clearly see the stitches in this circle that are supposed to be hidden. I also removed the decorative stitching.

I added some of my own appliqué designs. I am not crazy about how the eyes turned out. Next time I will make them a little smaller and not as traditional.

I did a little decorative stitching in the blank spaces left be the appliqué that I removed. I also stitched over some appliqué to make it stand out a little more.

I filled in the black spaces with a little shimmery thread I had,

quilting it to the thick polyester batting. I actually found this process very relaxing...

Voila! A finished piece.

Chain Stitch name on a baby quilt.

   I was invited to a baby shower for one of my lawyers. Being on a VERY limited budget I had to get creative. I had a cute pink flamingo baby quilt that I had made a while ago. Liz is going to have a girl so I decided this would be adorable for her baby. Customising it for her would be even better! I had this cool ombre pink thread that was thick enough to use for the name. After  first practicing on some paper, I wrote Maria Sofia onto the quilt so that I could stitch over it. I freehanded it in swirly cursive. Cute for a little girl.

I was going to just dot the i's, but then I decided that hearts would be even cuter!!!

I took my Prismacolor marker and drew on the hearts.

I am not very confident in my chain stitch so I practiced first.

When I stitched onto the quilt, I went completely through to the other side. I had not done this on the name because I wanted the back of the quilt to look nice.

I scattered some more hearts around the quilt and the back of the quilt is so sweet!!!

I then signed and dated it, and tied it up with a ribbon. I hope Liz loves it!!!

Decorate a lampshade

   I really like the base of this lamp I bought, but the stark white lampshade was begging for something colorful. It just looked so "blah" against the off white wall. I decided to get out my fabric markers and do a little experimenting.

   I looked for some inspiration on my Pinterest color&pattern page. I am a Pinterest junkie so I have quite a few images collected. I found some cookies I had pinned and experimented with shapes and colors on some paper. I chose 5 colors to use in my palette from my Tulip brand and Marvy brand markers. My black marker was a little dried out so I used a Sharpie.

   I taped up the designs to see which one I liked the best, because I didn't want to make a mistake that I would have to live with.

   I tested the shapes on the seam of the shade which would be facing the wall. I was a little disappointed to discover the Sharpie marker bled a little on the fabric. I decided it didn't matter that much and decided to just go for it.

   I drew the shapes one at a time so they would be evenly distributed. I discovered that if I drew them a little faster the color would not bleed as much.

   I was pleased with the outcome. It is not perfect, but no one will notice the mistakes. I tend to over analyse everything so I was proud of myself for just getting it done.

I even like the way it looks in the daylight. It makes me happy :)

The New Apartment!!

   Finding this apartment in Costa del Este has been my saving grace by far. It is only an 8 minute walk to EM's school which means I don't have to take a $25 Uber ride from El Congrejo and be in the rush hour traffic with a toddler for over an hour. Traffic in Panama city is really unbelievable, but I can't even get into that right now... We have only been caught in the rain twice. The good news is the rainy season is over, at least for now. The first thing I did was paint EM's room pink of course!

   I love the layout and the open plan. When I am in the kitchen I can now keep my eye on EM's shenanigans. Her room is also front and center through that far door. There is even a dining room which I shall turn into my craft room.

  It also comes furnished which is great. The furniture is a little worse for wear, but to me it is wonderful. In the divorce I get nothing, so basically I can start from scratch. And look at that view!!!

  When most of the sanding, cleaning, and arranging was done I was very pleased with the outcome. I really do love my home in the sky. It is perfect for me and EM.

The only problem is that her toys end up taking over the entire space.

  I bought a lamp from a local store and tweaked the layout a little. My landlord Breyda was nice enough to give me a futon which will be perfect for when my family comes to visit from Florida. You can see it backed up to the love seat. I covered it in a blanket I found in a drawer. Now Elizabeth has the entire back area to do as she pleases. I will straighten that up later.

  I really don't like white walls. When I sit on the couch I see the kitchen and it just looked so blank and unfinished. I decided I needed to paint it a nice happy acid yellow. If I am going to paint one wall, I might as well paint two, so I added some cool purple to the media wall.

  The new layout and colors really do break up the long space. It feels a little more cozy now. I get EM today at noon. I know she will love the purple!!! And I got her a pink chair to go with her art table...

  I took a quilt I had made years ago and covered up the UGLY coffee table. It is a little low for the spot so I propped up the lamp on some books. EM will not like me putting objects onto her trampoline. Oh well...

  Here and there I made little areas to display some of my treasures. The walls are solid cement so nails are out of the question. I hung this poster with some non-damage sticky clips I found made by Command brand products. I was so happy to find them because I do not like bare walls, but it is a rental so I didn't want to ruin the walls with permanent sticky hooks. I don't think Breyda would like that.

  I stuck some of my art on the wall above the dining table and put a bowl I had in the centre. I bought all those bouncy balls for EM, but they are so pretty I thought they would make a nice display. Now I don't like for her to mess with them ;)

My creative space to take my mind off of the turmoil. This new apartment is my happy place and I am so grateful.

Hot Now

  I was SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! excited when I realised that the building going up across the street from my apartment was going to be a Krispy Kreme Coffee and Donut Shop. Not necessarily because I love donuts (I do), but because it was a little piece of home. A slice of America. Elizabeth and I walked by everyday and checked out the progress. Finally the grand opening was in sight. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed the party that would ensue. The Panamanians know how to throw a grand opening party!!!
  When they erected the barriers for crowd control I thought that was a little much. Then the DJ started spinning and the crowd arrived. They lined up all night to be the first ones in. Free donuts for life for the first 13. Free donuts and t-shirts for the first few hundred.

   

they did indeed wait all night...

   It took a while for the hoopla to die down. As much as I do enjoy a delicious donut, I did not want to wait 30 minutes for one.

It was a Monday and as EM did not have school that day, I was to pick her up in Alyn's lobby. Walking by Krispy Kreme, the Hot Now sign caught my eye. I was a little early to get EM so I decided to cross the gauntlet of a street and finally indulge my sweet tooth.

I witnessed the delicious confections being glazed behind the clean glass, and smelled the mouth watering aroma that could only be deep fried heaven.

   After surveying every flavour for several minutes, I ordered the Triple Chocolate. Luckily the flavours are in English so it was quite an easy process. I am very far from being bilingual. After paying $1.30, the kid emerged from behind the counter and handed me a donut libre. That means a FREE original glazed donut!!! When I asked him "por que?", he said "hot now". In the past I had always overlooked these as being too plain, but I gratefully accepted this present.

   Once in the lobby I decided to try the plain donut. It was still a little warm, and the shiny glaze was a little sticky. After the first bite, I realised the significance of Hot Now. Plain or not, that was the best donut I ever had. Now every time I walk by Krispy Kreme, I look to see if the Hot Now beacon will summon me again. It has....