Bag of Ties

What started as a quiet, easy morning produced a finished product I have been working on for a while.

I had a bag of my Dad's ties stuck away in my attic. It was a month ago I went searching for them and retrieved them from their forgotten storage. There were twelve ties, Dad's ties, and what was I going to do with them?

I took a chance and scribbled an idea on a blank notepad.

I took a brave step and washed all the ties. They all turned out fine and I went about deconstructing them. I took them all apart one by one, removing seams and linings and tags. I had to see how much material I had to work with.

Then I decided on other materials I would use to fill in where there wasn't enough to cover each square I was attempting. I found some good colors. I found some material that looked vintage enough to possibly be another of his ties. I matched them up and sorted them out. I cut, I stitched, I ripped out what I did wrong and did it again. It was becoming big and bulky and harder to work. I kept thinking I shouldn't be trying to do this on my second attempt at this sort of thing. I should wait on this precious project until I have more experience doing this. I thought that for moments throughout my working but it seemed I also heard my Dad quietly and easily saying if not now, when?

I kept at it. I pinned and bound and snipped stray threads until I had it all completed. I finished my second quilt and it's large enough to cover a full/queen size bed. It's unique and colorful and doesn't live in a bag in the attic any longer. It's different from any other bag of ties.

I even remembered to use the tags from the inside of the ties. It seemed they needed their place on the quilt, too.

So my second attempt at quilting was more than a satisfying journey for me. Dad came along to give me a few pointers when I was in doubt the way he always did. Love 'ya, Dad. Always will.
TT