A New Tie for a Handsome Guy

My son Ben is 6 years old. He is fascinated by men who wear suits and ties. Think Barney. If you watch 'How I Met Your Mother" you know what I'm talking about. (Not the giant purple dinosaur...) Anyway, I found a tutorial recently on how to make a tie for your little guy HERE. I let him choose the fabrics he wanted - he chose 5. I said "do you want a patchwork tie?" and he said "no. I want 5 ties." Okay then. Lemme see if I can figure out how to make just one first.

I printed out the free PDF pattern (it's 3 pages, but only a few lines per page so it's super light on ink usage) and got the fabric ready. Within literally 30 minutes, I had this:

The hardest part was turning it right side out. That took a good 7 minutes and a few swear words.

I then attached the strap with velcro to go around his neck by tying the tie  around it. When he got home from school he was SO excited to try it on. He does look pretty handsome, if I do say so myself =)

Misfit Quilters DQS

Have you noticed that there are so many swap groups out there that seem clique-ish? It's more like a popularity contest. They have a million rules and the same people swap all the time, while so many others who have been waiting for a long time to participate, are passed up yet again. I believe that swaps should be for fun. And apparently, other people do too. A couple of my twitter friends decided to start a group for misfit quilters. You know, like the misfit toys? The ones that no one loves and sends them off to their own little island to be pathetic while not bothering others with their pathetic-ness? Well, we don't have our own island (damn it), but we do have our own swap now.

Our first swap is for a doll quilt (since that was the swap most of us were discussing not being allowed to participate in). A doll quilt is about 13" x 19" and I just love how adorable they look hanging on the wall. I got started on my doll quilt a couple nights ago. It took a little time to figure out what I wanted to make for my partner since I don't know anything about her. I have been reading her blog, and looking at her favorite photos on Flickr. After I got an idea of what she might like, I started cutting and sewing.

I decided to make a Dresden Plate (gasp). I know. I thought it was a little ridiculous since I've never made one - and quite frankly, I never planned to make one either. But I found a tutorial HERE that made it seem really easy. And you know what? It was!

Sewing the top of the wedges together and turning them right side out is ingenious! I used a pencil to poke the points out. The tutorial says you need 20 wedges. That's if you use the special ruler, which I did not. I made my own template by guessing on a size. So I ended up needing 31 wedges based on the size I made them.

I made a giant yo-yo for the center. That was the hardest part. I still have a bit more to do before I can start quilting it. I'm unsure of the quilting design I want to use and I'm also undecided as to whether I want to machine or hand quilt.

When all is said and done, I hope that my partner loves it and I hope that all the other swaps that didn't want us, regret passing us up. Just because we don't have thousands of photos on Flickr or haven't participated in hundreds of swaps, doesn't mean we are bad quilters. As a matter of fact, I have seen the work of my fellow Misfits, and I have to say, we are damn good.

Selina