Originally Posted by
SemiSweet
This wonderful friend of mine just passed away recently. She was 95 and had lived a very full life with lots of travels across the world. Throughout much of the 1980's she lived in Panama with her husband while her husband tended the animals as a veterinarian on the military base in the Panama Canal area. During this time, she collected tons of "molas" or "molitas." Molas are made by reverse applique, with some more complex molas having 7 or more different fabrics layered on there.
What a nice treasure! We spent some time in Thailand back during an era when missionaries were teaching the Cambodian and other refugees there to quilt. I bought one quilt each for our children and they were done in the reverse quilting. I have never seen the blocks before, but this could have been a Panama thing. Naturally the colors are more like you would find in Panama and not like the Thai colors at all. You can't imagine how intricate the stitching and cutting was in those quilts! I also bought aprons, pillow covers and the like as gifts when we returned to the States. Good memories!