Those visiting the Brackendale Fall Fair will want to keep an eye out for a creative quilt - with a little luck they could be taking the prize home, and helping Squamish General Hospital get medical equipment.Squamish resident Dot Diot has found a creative and innovative way to make use of a surplus of ties left over from a fundraiser at Brennan Park Leisure Centre. The event was held in honour of Dr. LaVerne Kindree's 58 years of service to the Squamish community. She and members of the D'Arcy quilting group Ladies of the Lake have taken approximately 200 ties and made them into a quilt, which will be raffled off at the Brackendale Fall Fair."It's all hand-stitched," said Diot. "It's very, very nice."The idea for the tie quilt came as a result of the fundraiser Diot and other women from the Ladies' Auxiliary to Squamish General Hospital held in November 2007 to honour Kindree.One of the fundraising ideas for the evening was to sell ties at the door in recognition of the fact that Kindree is rarely seen without a tie. At the end of the night, however, Diot and her colleagues were left with approximately 200 ties."We thought 'What are we going to do with all those ties?'" said Diot.The quilt was designed by Ladies of the Lake organizer Peggy Perfitt.Diot brought the ties to the group in June, and Perfitt came up with the idea to make a quilt out of the ties."Peggy, she is a master quilter," said Diot. "We all know how to quilt but she put the design together and laid it all out."The "larger than Queen-sized" quilt took three months to make, with some of the ladies working eight hours in one day. While making a quilt out of ties is creative, it's not a new technique."[Tie quilts] have been around," said Diot. "They're not common, but a few have been done throughout different years."The quilt will be raffled off at the Brackendale Fall Fair, on Saturday, Sept. 6. Tickets are three for five dollars. All proceeds will go to Squamish General Hospital to purchase new equipment."We're hoping to contribute significantly," said Diot. "There's only one way to do it and that's from the generosity of the people."
