There has been quite a buzz around town since the Portlandia series debuted.  We don’t have cable, but we saw the first episode online.  Portlandia offers an authentic view of Portland, but the lens has been rotated a few degrees.  The first episode is not available on the website anymore, but there are quite a few clips on the Portlandia website and on YouTube.  The Put a Bird on It skit points its finger at the prevalence of artists using birds on their work around our area.  There is a rumor that the skit was directed at Queen Bee Creations.  They do put birds on lots of cool things.

But so do many others, obviously.  The video was filmed at Land (the home of buyolympia.com) and they sell great bird art by Nikki McClure and Jill Bliss.  The Put a Bird on It skit could have just as easily been Put a Bike or Bridge or Beer on It and it would have just as realistically represented Portland.  I hope my favorite artists keep putting birds on things because I love their interpretations of the world around us.  They put a smile on my face.

The theme of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild (PMQG) last summer was Put a Hexagon on It.  We had a great tutorial on how to make a hexagon.  We had a hexagon swap and I was so inspired I beautified one of my shirts with some hexagons.  So, when Henrik recently blew out the knee in a pair of his play jeans I thought, Put a Hexagon on It.

I filtered through my fabric stash and I presented Henrik with some of Heather Ross’ Rabbits & Race Cars fabric.  I bought all the fabric left on the bolt when I found it on the sale rack at Bolt.  I thought it would be great for curtains, but there wasn’t quite enough.  I am still waiting for some inspiration.  Henrik looked it over and pointed to one of the cars and said, “The rally car would be best”.  I used a 1” hexagon (actually 1” + SA) template from TabSlot.  It turned out great, functional and beautiful (through the eyes of a car-obsessed preschooler).

Real rally cars end up in mud and so did this one.

The patch washed up well and this pair of pants has moved to the top of the list.  They are the first ones out of the drawer as soon as they emerge clean from the laundry.  Whether birds or rally cars, find some beauty around you and get creative.