Jeanne and I recently attended our first engagement of the Spring season, out in Bonnyville, AB. It was a fabulous time! Both Jeanne and I taught classes on the Saturday, after a Friday evening of AMAZING food....oh ya and we did a trunk show also!! But the food....wow!
So for the past few weeks on Wednesday's, I've had a standing date with my granddaughter for a few hours each evening! I have been sneaking away from work early to pick her up, make her dinner, play, then relinquish her back to her mom! I'm going to miss those Wednesdays when she goes back to her regular sitter! It's WAY more fun being a grandma than a parent!!
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| Only a Grandma would let her dip her strawberries in sugar! |
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| But how could you not?? |
Are you ready for this......
I COLLECT MENS NECKTIES.
There. I said it out loud.
And not just any old kind of necktie....but old, used neckties! I have never bought a new necktie. Why do I do this when I have a perfectly good STORE full of brand new fabric? I don't really know. It's like an addiction. I have bins and bins of ties. Under beds, in closets. And right now....all over my sewing room floor!
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| Messy ties littering my sewing room floor! |
I do use the ties! I make quilts with them. I don't have a lot of time to play in my ties. I'm usually sewing something that is for the shop. The next sample we need or the next book project, or the next something new. But I do try to make one project a year with them - not a lot, I know, but it's something I do for ME.
So the project I'm working on now is called Eclectic Pickle. It is a Quilt Patch Pattern Co pattern!
It's a paper piecing project, but I use a fusible interfacing! (I'd be happy to share any tips - just drop me an email!)
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| Eclectic Pickle hanging in my house |
So back to my sewing room....when I use the ties in a quilt, I sometimes mix in silks with the ties. Yes...another thing I collect!
I love the process of choosing a specific tie and pairing it up with either another tie, or the perfect color of silk to complement the tie! I could spend hours doing just that! I have little piles all over my sewing room! It's soooo incredibly messy when I drag out the ties! Not just the random piles all over - but taking the ties apart creates little threads that linger everywhere. Paper piecing creates random bits of garbage, silk frays quite a lot, and well...in general, I'd be the first to admit - I'm a messy sewer!
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| Ties pairs with silk |
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| Ties paired with ties |
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| Close up of Eclectic Pickle |
You want more? Hubby just cleaned out his closet, and I have a few that I could add to your stash! Some fairly new, others way old. But for me to save them, is not going to work. I first thought about it, but I'd rather send them to someone who will use them before I do in twenty years or so.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great secret but definitely not a dirty one. Now you are going to receive lots of packages in the mail...Kudos to you, ties are must be the worse of the worse to sew with except velvet, but I have not sewn with either! Do you only use the silk ones or the synthetic fabrics too?
ReplyDeleteCute kid Grandma!
Oh I use any kind of tie! Unless it's really stained! My favourite are the ones from about the 40's 50's! Hard to come by now, but they have the best designs!
DeleteAnd I have all sorts of tricks up my sleeve to make the ties behave when I'm sewing with them!
Ya Ellie is pretty cute - I like to tell Brain she looks just like me!! Lol!
i'd like a tip or two on how to use a tie to make a quilt. I have a very small stash for a someday project.
ReplyDeletethank you
janita