Ties

There are all sorts of ties.  There are ties that bind.  There are ties to the community…and there are ties in competition.

Of course, there are also the pieces of fabric that men wear, called neck ties.  

There are skinny ties, fat ties, and in-between ties.  There are bow-ties and clip-on ties, possibly made for those men in a hurry or maybe because they haven’t been able to master the difficulty of a Windsor knot.

There are reasonably inexpensive ties for those men who only have occasion to wear them once or twice a year and think the idea of putting a useless string around their shirt is ridiculous.  There are high-end ties marketed to the rich, made of the finest silk, surely spun from spiders hiding in the dark crevices of royal castles.

Some ties are beautiful and bear the mark of their famous designer.  Some ties are so ugly, they make you scratch your head and wonder what someone was thinking.  Some ties boast a theme park or scenes from a distant country.  Some ties bear stains, and offer a slight whiff of a long ago supped dinner.

Some ties smell like old men.

Some ties bring back memories of yesteryear and either make you smile or wince.

Some ties are kept far beyond their expiration date.  Others are tossed aside like old lovers, until one day…someone sees the beauty in what once was, and rescues them to be refashioned into a work of art, made to warm you on a chilly night…and maybe bring back memories of yesteryear…and yes, maybe smell like old men.

 

This quilt was made from 264 different ties.  66 labels were used in the center.