Wednesday 16 May 2012

Re”tie”rd (Retired)

Re"tie"rd Quilt
Today is my dad’s birthday, so I’m posting a picture of his quilt which I made with his old neckties.

One day many years ago my step-mother took me downstairs and showed me a green garbage bag full of dad’s old ties – all out of date – and lamented “He won’t let me get rid of them”  I said “I think I can help you” and asked dad if I could have them, he easily agreed, no questions asked. 

I took them home and began plans for a quilt.  After hand laundering all the ties, I undid the stitching on the back and arranged them in a Grandmothers Fan configuration on an 18 inch square of Black velvet.  With left over ties I made a sashing around the quilt and then a velvet border.  I used all the points from the other end of the ties to make a Prairie points edge on the quilt, the back is a beautiful light blue shirting material, and the quilt is tied.

Re”tie”rd was dad’s Christmas gift that year, he was delighted.

A precursor to the necktie may have been the ruff, a starched, pleated white linen strip, originating early in the 16th century as a neck cloth (readily changeable, to minimize the soiling of a doublet), as a bib, or as a napkin.

A family is a patchwork of love.


2 comments:

  1. Edith, the quilt is such an honor to your Dad and brings back so many memories, even his wedding tie. Must admit though, there are some very ugly ones not hard to spot for the ugly tie contest!!

    Thanks for doing this labor of love!

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    1. I don't think I knew that dad's wedding tie was in there, that does make for special memories. The ugly ones were probably the height of style when they were bought, however it does make for some fun now. This quilt was a delight to make & dad's reaction was worth all the work.

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