Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Deconstructing

I have been a lazy quilter/blogger lately. My life has been interesting and not in a bad way.  But it has eaten into some quilting time.   A while back I had ordered an Ashford blending board from a friend who is an Ashford dealer.   It came in and I blended some wool into rolags.  Rolags are wool that has been carded and blended into long skinny rolls used for spinning into yarn.  Here are the first ones that I made on my new blending board.

I love this combination of pale lime green, light blue, rich yellow and deep purple.  I also added in some silk and a bit of "firestar" which is a shiny nylon fiber to add a bit of bling to the yarn.

This morning (Tuesday) I had an appointment with the respiratory therapist (RT) to check on my CPAP.  The last two times I have taken the data card to the sleep center they have said that they can't see any data on it.  Being a computer geek, I put the card in my computer and verified that there was indeed data on the card.  But I took it in along with my CPAP for the RT to check.  He saw all of the data but said that he filled in an empty field that may have caused them to be confused. He also verified that my CPAP is putting out the right amount of pressure.  (and I got a little praise for using it faithfully and having good numbers!)

Afterwards I went shopping for a new mailbox. I got one and later in the day installed it. (yaay!) But I also went to a thrift store.  I am really looking for some used mannequins or dress forms to use for display later.  No luck finding those.  But I walked by and saw a bin of men's neckties for 50 cents each.   Many of them were marked 100% silk.   So I got four of them to deconstruct.  I will cut the silk into strips to use for weaving; although you could use them for crazy quilting too.

As I deconstructed them, I noticed minor differences in construction.   And although they said "100% silk"  I am sure that the sewn in interfacing was NOT silk.  After picking out the stitches in the pointy ends of one of them, I decided to cut along the seams on the rest of them.  I got all four deconstructed in short order.  If you do this I suggest having a trash can right beside you - it saves on cleaning later.
The green tie is actually a Kwanzaa tie.  The yellow is a simple yellow Bill Blass tie. The red with white and black print had a French name tag on it and was imported from France.  The Blue. gold and red had a very fancy button/tag on it with CM on one side and "hand tailored" on the other.   As I got close to the narrow end of the CM tie, I saw this
I wondered "why Countess and not Count ___"  Then my creative mind kicked in on me.  Of course, it is obvious!  The Count had passed and Countess Mara had to cut up all her fine silk gowns and make neckties to keep from starving.   And of course she hand tailored them with her own royal fingers.  (Sniff, sniff - I may cry now.)  I am not sure I can bare to cut this tie into strips.  The Countess has suffered so much already.
Ha ha.  Of course that story is only in my wild imagination.   I realize that I should have gotten more of those ties to deconstruct....because I obviously need more projects - right?
Ha ha. I hope you got a laugh from my silly meanderings.



My blog is http://blog.geneblack.com
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3 comments:

Linda C said...

I was asked once to make some crazy patches with a deceased husband's ties. I ended up returning it to them when I knew I did not share their vision and didn't want them to be disappointed with my sorry attempts to make pillows with some sort of weird decorator trims. SO not me. A lot of work or what little bits of fabric are in there and bias to boot! Good idea keeping the trash basket close. I love the countess story, you silly boy!

Marlene said...

I occasionally hunt for ties in thrift stores but never with any luck. The pure silk ones evade me. They would be fantastic for Crazy Quilts.
I wonder if "Countess Maria" is maybe the name of a dress shop where the tie was sewn. Not nearly as enchanting of a story as you cooked up. LOL.
I have a blending board and when I first got it I did some wonderful rolags. Somehow I have lost my touch or forgotten how to use it. My last attempt was a bit of a failure.

grandmavickiann said...

For your info:

www.ask.com/wiki/Countess_Mara?lang=eng