Yo!

I remember people using the word YO as a greeting when they were trying to sound cool...  but this is something entirely different.  Whether it's cool or not is a personal opinion.

A couple of meetings ago the speaker at our local guild meeting was a lady who makes yo-yo quilts.  She patiently took us through the process, and some of us even executed one or two yoyos at the meeting.

I'm sure you know what yo-yo's are in the quilting world.  You take circles of fabric, and with a hand needle and doubled thread knotted at the end, you do a running stitch all around, and gather the stitches to the center of the circle at the front... or is that the back?  I don't know... I'm not a big fan of yoyos myself although I do know how to do them.

Circles can be tricky to cut well if you're using a scissors.  They have some fancy gadgets now that let you cut them by machine.  Sizzix has one, as do Fiskars and Olfa.  I bought one from TrueCut that I like a lot for large circles for applique.

You can draw around your favorite jar lid...

There are circular rulers.



If you're into production!!



Lots of folks use this one from Olfa.

Fiskars.

I have this one.  Disclaimer:  No one paid me to show this to you, or any of the others for that matter.

OK so we've solved the cutting conundrum.  So on to the hand sewing.  A lot of you are going "ugh" at the H word.

I don't mind a little hand sewing.  It's something to do when DH is watching sports or other boring TV but he really wants me to stay in the room with him.

To make one you take your precut circle and do a running stitch around the outside while turning under a little less than a quarter inch but slightly more than an eighth of an inch.  It doesn't matter exactly, as long as you're consistent.

There's even an "app" for that, a sewing APP (notion) from Clover.  So far I've resisted buying one.  It tells you how big to cut the circle and helps you get the stitches even.  I've even seen them for shapes other than circles.


I get no money from Clover for showing you this notion either.  Clover, are you watching??  Call me!

Then you sew the resulting finished yoyos together at four 'corners' to make a piece big enough for whatever it is you're making.  This piece is shamelessly borrowed from the internet.  I don't have enough made yet to even sew two together.

So for me, making a whole bed quilt out of yos - I doubt I'd live long enough to complete one.  But they are kind of cute, and you might make something cute from them, once you have enough.

Here are a few ideas:

Toys - always cute...

The right girl would have to like this...

Table topper?

I could do this for the holidays.  Especially if I start now!

Sew on...