Necktie Quilts Reinvented

October 6, 2014
Quilt artist Copenhaver has come up with new ideas for quilting with ties, but she retains one of the good old reasons for doing so: there are plenty of ties lying around. Before she details her projects, she spends a good while teaching the basics of working with ties. She starts with washing (or not) and moves to deconstructing (picking and pulling threads) and pressing. She covers arranging (all those reds!) and managing a tie stash. Copenhaver does not so much adapt ties to quilts as quilt ties in a new way. Her addition to the methodology is exploiting fusible interfacing “to stabilize the necktie material and to facilitate rotary cutting.” Her 16 projects encourage quilters at various skill levels, but even the ones for beginners require a sure hand for dealing with the quirks of a tie cut on the bias, though that’s handy for binding. The projects include covers, wall-hangings, runners, and pillows.