A Bit of Quilting: Add a Little Flange to Your Life

I make a lot of quilts. Each one is unique in that each one is made for someone special. Might be a family member. Might be a friend. Might be for a child in the hospital. Might be a homeless stranger in need of warmth and love.  See, my philosophy is that every quilt I make puts out a bit of positive energy into the world. I keep making quilts because the world needs more positive energy.

Quilts are also pieces of art.  It is created through choices:  a choice of fabrics, patterns, of stitching. Even the most simple quilt, sewn together by someone with little skill becomes a piece of art. It is beautiful! The borders that surround the piecing is a type of frame; it gives the center the crown of glory. But the binding, that small piece of fabric that surrounds the outer edges, is the piece that brings and holds it all together.

 

How about adding a little fun to that piece? I learned how to make a flange/piping on the binding from fabric artist Melody Crust. It's fun and easy.  As someone recently said, it is just adding a little step to regular binding.  Here's the deal: The binding is added to the quilt when it is finished, meaning after the top has been sandwiched with the batting and the backing and then quilted. The raw edges are then wrapped with fabric that binds it all together. The binding can be any width but the most common size is 2.5" by area of the quilt (plus 15"-20"). That's the size I will show you in making the flange.

To make the flange:  

 

Cut two sets of strips.  Make note the piping strip is wider than the binding strip 

• The piping cut 1.3/4" wide 
• The binding cut 1.3/8" wide

Stitch the ends of the piping strips together and the binding strips together. It helps to iron the seams open in order to have less bulk at the fold.

Sew both strips together using 1/4" seam. Press the seam toward the binding fabric.  Then fold in half and press.

With binding side down, place the binding onto the back of the quilt.  Using a walking foot or something else that will enable the even-feed feature on your sewing machine, sew the binding onto the back.  Keep the raw edges together.  Don't forget to start sewing with about an 8"-10" tail at the beginning. 

Turn the corners the same as you would turn the regular binding.  Stop stitching 1/4" from edge, fold up to create a 45 degree angle toward the corner, then fold the strip down with folded edge aligned with the top of the corner. Resume stitching :)

When you get to the first end, stop at least 8"-10" between the first start.  This will give you room to attach your ends together. A great way to end the binding so that it fits snugly is to use a clipping of the binding itself, snip snip...create a little hat... sew... measure...and sew down.

Now you wrap the binding to the front and sew down along in the ditch between the binding and the flange. Pretty cool, huh?

You will have a stitch line on the back along the edge of the binding seam. This is why I tend to use the same color thread in the bobbin as the quilting thread.

 

Piping and flange. It's easy and fun.

And so it goes
peace~~~

 

Weird Portland Wednesday: Sleestak...of course

As you are exploring our beautiful Forest Park, as many a Portlander as well as a tourist will do, you come to the intriguing Witch's Castle. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice something standing in the shadows just inside a doorway of the Castle. And then it emerges....

It is the Portland Sleestak!

Yes, we have a Sleestak wandering our city streets. Think about it...any town that would have the Unipiper--Darth Vader riding around town on a unicycle playing the pipes--would have a Sleestak. No question.

Sleestak got his start in Portland in late 2019 but came into his own during early 2020. According to the Oregonian (Aug. 27, 2020), "By day, Brent Marr is a maintenance tech for a downtown property management company. By night, he’s the Portland Sleestak. Marr, 52, was one of many Gen-X kids who grew up watching Sid and Marty Krofft puppet-filled kids shows..."

The Kroft-created program, Land of the Lost, made an impression on Marr. He decided to make a Halloween costume as a Sleestak. And then he decided to make a better costume and wander around the streets of Portland, scaring people. No one was scared. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with the Portland Sleestak. So Marr just went with it.

This story explains our little town (from the Oregonian):  

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Oregon, Marr took a several-month break from “Sleestaking.” But in mid-July, he brought out the suit, loaded it into a pickup, and headed out with a roommate to the Eastbank Esplanade. As dusk fell, Marr stood under a streetlight. He’d brought a speaker that played the call of the Sleestak, a sound like a low-fi recording of a howling wind.

At that moment, maybe a half-mile away as the crow flies, federal officers were tear gassing a crowd of protesters outside the federal courthouse. But on this side of the river, it was quiet. A few teens rode by on electric scooters. A group of cyclists slowed down, and one woman giggled and pointed when she noticed Marr standing.

Most people, though, ignored the monster on the sidewalk.

It was just a Saturday night in Portland.

Yes, the Portland Sleestak, just one more way we keep Portland Weird.
And so it goes~~~
peace

 

Weird Portland Wednesday: Who's Missing?

Portland is such a beautiful town. With Mt Hood as a backdrop and greenery all around, what's not to love? I have a friend in Tennessee who came to visit one Christmas break. It snowed as we drove over the coastal range. It snowed as we came home. The skies were grey and cloudy--our favorite winter weather. She would drink poison that there is no Mt. Hood; it's simply a picture backdrop we use in Photoshop for all pictures of our city. *shrug* you know those Southerners ;)

Like everywhere, we have many pets. Like everywhere we have "crazy cat ladies," fish lovers, those who like them a bit wild. My former neighbor used to love to have ferrets. Nice big cage in the middle of her living room. Dogs galore! We have what every city has in the pet department.

And every city also has missing pet posters stapled up on light posts and taped to walls. Kitty missing, call this number. Dog ran out of the open gate, call this number. Just moved and puppy is lost. Sad and heart-felt posters with pictures of their beloved animals. Portland is no different. 

So why am I even writing about missing pets? Well, perhaps it is the actual pets that we post that are missing that makes us weird. Here are a few examples:

 

And yes, this is one of the things that keeps Portland weird.

And so it goes~~~
peace

Weird Portland Wednesday: Buck Naked Full Moon Ride

 

One of the highlights of Portland summers is how we love to get naked and ride bikes. The Buck Naked Full Moon Ride is one of three planned naked bike rides. It is hosted by PedalPalooza. Of course "Pedalpalooza," right?

This particular ride has been happening for the past 17 years and was held last Friday, July 23. It is protesting (of course we are protesting something) three major issues: oil dependency, body shaming, and the dangers of bicycle riding.

The three events typically coincide with the World Naked Bike Ride, which an international biking protest that is hosted in 73 cities and 20 countries. It has been once again cancelled due to COVID-19.

Portland's World Naked Bike Ride is the largest in the world, drawing over 10,000 riders. Just another proof that we do love to get naked and love to protest. The Buck Naked Full Moon Ride should have no "body shaming" as it brought several hundreds of riders out on a beautiful summer night, all in a variety of dress, frills and body paint. People rode anything from unicycles to triple-tandem bikes.

Yeppers, naked bike riding protests...one more way we keep Portland weird.

And so it goes~~~
peace

What Are Eves All About?

My sons, almost two and four--1973

My sons were born on the same day, two years apart. It was nothing planned, but it happened. I thought it was delightful, but my sons have always expressed that being born on the same day was a PIA because they weren't anything special, like twins. They couldn't claim that bonding that twins seem to have. No, they were just born on the same day. 

They also grumbled they had to share a birthday. Always had to share a birthday. Never were they special on their own special day. I tried to change it up for them by making two cakes, serving their special foods. I even tried to celebrate their birthdays separately--one on the day before and one on the day after the real day. Nothing worked and they both couldn't care less about their birthday.

Genny, Richard, Robert, Ruth--abt 1923

My dad and Aunt Ruth were twins. Their birthday was December 29, 1920. They loved being twins for the most part, especially Aunt Ruth. But there was a blight in their lives.... Every Christmas under the tree was a present for their older sister, their older brother, and one for them. It was addressed as "To Ruth and Richard, Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!" They were never happy that they had to share a gift with one another AND share it between Christmas and birthdays. Aunt Ruth continued to grumble about this fact until she died at age 99. I told my sons this and they said, "Yeah, but at least they were twins!" *sigh*

Patty and Me--1952

To me, birthdays are delicious. I like to celebrate my birthday for at least a week. I love the specialness of my day, the day I was born :) I like to walk around like I am some special person, flaunting my day, flaunting my being, my birth. I like to have my family over and have a barbecue out on the lawn. I like flowers and balloons and gaiety. 

One blight to my birthday is that it is in the summer, albeit it is summer, the best time of the year. You know, three months of vacation, sun shining until late in the evening, playing Hide-and-Seek-After-Dark. The problem is that I couldn't have my birthday celebrated in my elementary class. You might remember those happy school days when moms would bring cupcakes for the class and in the afternoon we celebrated that kid's special day. And if I had a party--we rarely had parties. One at six years old, one at 10 maybe, one at 16--it wasn't easy to invite the other kids over. Especially since we lived down in the Boondocks.

But I love birthdays. Everyone's birthday! I love the celebration. And sitting here on my Birthday Eve, I am recalling all the years before. Memories of when I was young. Memories of when my kids were young. Memories of about birthdays during a pandemic. 

That's what Eves are all about--memories and laughter and heart-warming biding of time until the true day of celebration.

And so it goes~~~
peace