Ties. Such a funny piece of clothing. Intricately designed, wonderfully wild, and a huge part of men's fashion. My dad wore ties almost daily for his job. He was willing to push the boundaries of male fashion to make a statement. So I'm sure that had a lot to do with my desire to keep his ties after he died.

So when my mom asked which of his belongings I would like to keep I choose his ties. He always said,

“Ties are an accessory that men can use to liven up business attire.”

He had wild, outlandish, and funny ties. I had them for years and didn’t know what to do with them. They were stored in my closet for a long time. I knew I didn't want to get rid of them but I didn't know what to do with them.

What did the hat say to the necktie? You hang around and I'll go on ahead.

Then I got a crazy idea to make a quilt with the ties. How hard could that be! Sew them together and add some other fabric. Wow! Was I in for a shock!

I didn’t even know how to quilt! A neighbor and a friend of mine started me on quilting squares. That was fun. There was so much more to quilting than cutting and sewing pieces together. It was hard to cut straight lines, align them and then sew them together.

Another friend who knew how to sew and use a sewing machine began the quilting journey with me. We placed the quilts out on the table, and she began to lead me on a tie quilt journey. The ties were thick and bulky making cutting and sewing difficult.

It was a long, difficult, and fulfilling process. Just deciding on which ties to use was difficult. Everything about the ties reminded me of my dad. His smile, his ties, his words to a friend. Maybe that is why it took me so long to even cut them! In fact it was my friend who did that for me!

A place in my home. The Final Project

People will stare. Make it worth their while. Harry Wintston

As you can see in the corner, I had to cut part of the ties off to fit on the fabric. I took the leftover ties and made a smaller quilt. I was able to do that quilt all by myself. I have learned quite a bit about quilting and those who quilt. My friend was a great help as well as a local quilting store.

The owner of the store let me use her sewing machine since the ties, batting, and material was so thick. She also made the cut to the fabric when I was too nervous to make. In the end it felt good to hand sew the edges and the loop to so it could be hung.

The last addition to the quilt was his military tag, McCarthy. Now, in addition to completing a huge quilting project I had something that I could touch that reminded me of my father.

SK Simple Solutions would enjoy being a part of your repurposing projects. Contact us to help assist you with all your decluttering and repurposing projects.

SK Out!

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