All tied up ! Quilts made from neckties

We're wrapping up our tie quilt series (and tying up the loose ends). Here are the fantastic quilts we've shown over the last two weeks, along with some invaluable resources: books, patterns, websites, blogs, and tutorials (whew !)

Row 1, L-R: Ira's Quilt, and Key Quilt, by Bet Ison at Home for Wayward Babydolls; Silk Orange Peel and Carnival, by Stacey Sharman at Peppermint Pinwheels.  Row 2: Tie Quilt by Bette Haddon at Studio Art Quilts; TieBurst by Matthew Spong at mspong.org; Corporate Attire, by Dale Fleming at dalefleming.com; Unwinding the MBA, by Caryl Bryer Fallert at Bryerpatch Studio.  Row 3:  Power Ties in Bloom, by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, at Craft Sanity; Movement, by Louise Silk, at Silk Quilt; Tie Quilt by Renay Martin, at Purse Strings Patterns; Wedding Quilt, by Matthew Spong, at mspong.org. Row 4: Power Ties in Bloom, by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood at Craft Sanity;  Tie Repeat, by Louise Silk at Silk Quilt; Silk Tie Quilt, by Nancy Goodman, at nwgoodman.com; Tie Quilt, by Nancy Sturgeon, at Threads Through Time.  Row 5:  Catch, by Nancy Gamon, at nancygamon; Small tie quilt, by Nancy Sturgeon, at Threads Through Time; Silk Tie Quilt, by Nancy Goodman, at nwgoodman.com; Necktie hanging, by Nancy Gamon, at nancygamon.

Patterns for Tie Quilts

Row 1: Pieced Silk Tie Quilt from 1865, Shelburne Museum collection, pattern at Hoopla Patterns; "Untitled" and "Enticement", by Karen K. Stone (these out-of-print patterns can be found at Embroidery Etcetera).  Row 2: Making Memories, by Deb Rowden; Quilts for Guys, by Cyndy Rymer; Daddy's Ties, by Shirley Botsford.  Row 3:  Indian Orange Peel quilt, in Karen K. Stone Quilts; and Bella Bella Quilts by Norah McMeeking.

Memory Quilts: see Alix Joyal at Mamaka Mills (and her tutorial, how to sew a memory quilt using a silk tie); Lori Mason at Lori Mason Designs; Connie Bloom at conniebloom.com; and Cheryl Kirk at Sweet Dreams Quilting.

More necktie quilts and interesting blogs:  See "I've been working on the railroad", by Nann Blaine Hillyard, at With Strings Attached; Silk Treasure, by Barbara Hruby, at the Northern Lake County Quilters Guild; Sewing with Neckties and Woof Nanny are blogs written by Barb Lawrence.

Power ties in bloom

It's day 5 of our series on quilts made from neckties, and we're so excited about "Power Ties in Bloom". This is a series of quilts made by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood and exhibited at ArtPrize 2010. The ties were donated by West Michigan business men and community leaders.  Jennifer used the ties to create five different quilts with colorful, hexagon-shaped blooms.

We love Jennifer's creative re-use of neckties, and the way in which this classic quilt pattern has been made to look thoroughly modern.  Jennifer explains: "I took apart the ties, backed them with interfacing, cut them up into three inch squares and used an English paper piecing method to hand-stitch the tie fabric into hexagon shaped blooms. I hand-stitched the hexagon flowers together to form giant appliques to attach to backing fabric that I machine quilted.  About 25 volunteers helped me stitch more than 120 of these flowers."  All five of the "Power Ties in Bloom" can be seen at Jennifer's website, Craft Sanity. You can also see a videotaped interview of Jennifer, discussing Power Ties in Bloom, on YouTube.

Image credits and links: Images are shown with the generous permission of Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood.   Craft Sanity is her creative blog, podcast and magazine for those who love things handmade.