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day many years ago my step-mother took me downstairs and showed me a green garbage bag full of dad’s old ties – all out of date – and lamented “He won’t let me get rid of them”  I said “I think I can help you” and asked dad if I could have them, he easily agreed, no questions asked.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

What is black and white and red all over?

Black and White and Red all over quilt

This cute little quilt by Terry Morberg of Applepatch Design!  I like the little green surprise – whimsical.  We choose the popcorn pantograph, one of Terry’s favourites and black thread.

The traditional answer to the riddle, which relies upon the fact that the words "red" and "read" are homophones, is 'A newspaper'.  A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning.

The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. - Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

Rainbow Scrap Challenge – Yellow

Yellow Mile a Minute blocks

This morning I woke up with the song Mellow Yellow running through my head, however I don’t really feel Yellow is so mellow, for me Yellow has connotations of sunshine and brightness.  Picking fabric scraps and sewing my Yellow Mile a Minute blocks this week was a bright and cheery activity.

Do you have a song that you associate with Yellow?   Does Yellow have a different connotation for you?

Drop by Soscrappy and check out the other Yellow scrap projects.

 

In most of Canada and the United States, school buses are painted a yellow color - often referred to as "school bus yellow" - for purposes of visibility and safety.

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun - Pablo Picasso

Yellow Brick Road Quilt

Yellow Brick Road Quilt

This lovely quilt pieced by my neighbor Candy makes me think of a summer evening sitting on the deck.  It is one of the very first quilts that I did on my longarm machine, I’m so glad that she trusted me with it.  We chose the Blowin’Wind Pantograph by Willow Leaf Studio.  The Yellow Brick Road pattern is by Terry Atkinson of Atkinson Designs and it is Fat Quarter friendly.

Did you know that after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum went on to write thirteen more novels based on the places and people of the Land of Oz and one of the books had the title The Patchwork Girl of Oz?

"How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun." --Vincent Van Gogh