Ask Joi: Yo! Where My Yo-Yo's At?

Question from Anonymous,

What are yo-yo's and what is a yo-yo quilt?


Hello Anonymous,

Yo-yo's are stitched puffy-like circles made of fabric. The edges of the circles are turned inward and secured and gathered in using a running stitch, thus creating the distinctive yo-yo look. With such a long history and use some may think that yo-yo's have been around since the time of Jesus. Well, maybe not that long, but they've been around the block a time or two. They can be made in various sizes and fabrics.

(photo credit: Crafthubs)

Yo-yo's have been made and loved by quilters, crafters and even fashion designers. Every few years you may see yo-yo's come back into fashion, but they never really go out of style. People are always finding ways to decorate clothing, crafts and home decor with these little tuffs of fabric. (Anybody out there remembers when yo-yo vest were all the rage?)

(photo credit: Make it and Love it)

There is something addictive about sewing those little circles and watching them pile up. It's a hand sewing activity that once you get in a good groove, can be quick to make.

Now, when it comes to quilts, I consider yo-yo quilts to be up there with king-size postage stamp quilts and hand quilting a whole cloth queen-size quilt. These are all labors of love.

(photo credit: Quilterscache)

Depending on the type of fabric used, a yo yo quilt can be light to medium in weight. There is usually no batting or backing in a yo yo quilt. You just stitch each yo yo together in whatever pattern you like until the piece grows into your desired quilt size. 

Now you will also find traditional quilts where yo-yo's are appliqued on or even some yo-yo quilts where the quilter has made in entire quilt out of yo-yo's and then sewed it down onto cloth, making a heavier and more durable quilt.

(photo credit: crochetbug)

Like English paper piecing, yo yo making is a great travel project. You'd be amazed how many yo yo's you can produce in a six hour flight from California to Hawaii.

(photo credit: all people quilt)

Here is a good link to help you get started in learning to make yo-yo's: Martingale

Clover has a wonderful line of yo-yo making tools in various sizes and shapes. You can check out their entire line here: Quick Yo-yo Makers.

Clover Quick Yo-Yo Maker

Have a quilting question? Send it to me:  michellecalimattingly at gmail dot com

Thank You Fons & Porter!!!

Visiting Fons & Porter's website is like a weekly ritual for me. Back in February they put on a contest and asked for pictures of quilts to be displayed on their Facebook page during March, which is National Craft Month. They would select three random entries to receive a gift of fabric and one of their magazines.

I went ahead and entered the contest, more for the chance to share the story behind one of my quilts rather then thinking I had any chance of winning a prize.

Well, it came as a complete shock when I received an email saying that I was one of the lucky winners of the contest. WHAT!!!!! I was totally overwhelmed.  

The packaged arrived with my goodies just a couple of days ago. I was still in so much over shock over winning that it took me a whole day before I even opened the box.

Inside was a copy of the Love of Quilting Magazine as well as a lovely stack of fabric. The fabric is from P&B Textiles.  There are two from their Fantasy Garden Collection designed by Maria V. Montiel. The other five fabrics are from their Dash Collection.

Thank you so much Fons & Porter for this lovely surprise. The magazine and the fabric will both be well used.

Nine Patch In Pink

Near the beginning of the year I joined a block swap on the Quilters Club of America quilting forum. My reason behind joining the swap was that I wanted to challenge myself in accurate hand piecing and add to my goal of quilting everyday.

This swap consisted of making 12 nine patch blocks in the colors of white and pink. The blocks measure 6 1/2 inches.

I purchased my pink fabric at the local Jo-Ann's. It's a fun looking fabric and I really like the non-uniform white polka dots scattered across it. The white fabric I already owned. I did not pre-wash my fabric. (Yup, I'm one of those quilters).

My blocks have now been shipped off. Within a couple of weeks I should be receiving 12 different blocks in the mail. It makes me smile to think of getting fabric in the mail.

From Shirt To Quilt

Most of my quilt tops are made using old clothes. This is how my mom use to make quilts. She would keep every torn up, worn out piece of clothing and use it either as a quilt or as dust cloths.

 Even though I have access to great fabrics I still find myself drawn to using old clothes and thrift store finds. There is no law stating that you must only use 100% cotton designer fabric in order to quilt. Sometimes the best quilts are created by just using what you have. Don't believe me? Go take a look at the quilts of Gee's Bend if you need proof.

Now, how would one turn an old work shirt or an outdated blouse into usable fabric for quilting? Well, I'm glad you asked. Luke Haynes did a tutorial awhile back showing how to deconstruct clothing to use in a quilt. Check it out here at Deconstructing a Shirt. When you get some time, make sure to check out the work of Luke Haynes. He is an incredible fabric artist.

Fat Quarters Drawn and Quartered

I was checking out quilts on Pinterest when I came across this little chart. I thought it was a great guide in knowing how much mileage you can get out of a fat quarter. This would be great to print out and take with you when shopping for fabric. It helps to take the guess work out of knowing how many fat quarters it would take to finish a project.

You can find this chart and other cool stuff at U Create

Source: http://www.u-createcrafts.com/10-ways-to-cut-fat-quarter/

Giving A Hoot

At my local Michael's Craft Store today, I picked up a sweet little treat that was just begging to come home with me.

I mean, seriously, who can resist such cuteness. Just look at those eyes!

The fabric is .5 yard from the Crafty Cuts Cotton Assorted Prints Fabric Line distributed by Springs Creative

No, I have no real plans for this fabric other then to just admire it. But I don't have the room to become a fabric hoarder, so I will need to come up with a quilt idea for this little treasure.

Fussy Cut Flowers

Last year I purchased a couple of vintage pillow cases from the Goodwill. I intended on using them in a quilt somehow. Recently, my daughter reminded me that I made a promise awhile back to make her a quilt. She has requested a quilt with all pinks and purples. She did say that she would allow a little bit of other colors, but only if it had flowers on it.

Looking at the pillow case I now see a way I can use the fabric. I knew that I wanted to do a basic square patch quilt for my little girl. I could have just cut out the fabric normally and let the flowers land where they may. But I decided to try my hand at some fussy cutting. This meant actually breaking out the rotary cutter and cutting board.

I will confess to you now, me and rotary cutters are not the best of friends. I do believe rotary cutters are a great tool for cutting fabric, it's just not my first choice. I much prefer to use a good pair of scissors. Yup, call me old fashion.

Anyway, using this square template, (which I have no idea when and where I got it), I cut about sixteen 4" squares with seam allowance included.

Now that I've got these flower squares cut out, it's on to gathering and cutting the other fabric for the quilt.

Quilting Fabric- Note To Self

I'll be honest, I really don't know much about the quilting world. For the short time I quilted before, I really kept to myself and just used scraps of fabric in the costume shop or at the thrift store. So, I am totally naive about the various ways in which one is able to purchase quilting fabric.

I made this little chart in order to remind myself what quilters are talking about when they discuss fabric purchases. (I'm sure I will continue adding to this list as I learn more about the quilting world).

Mini Charm Packs

A pile of 2 1/2" fabric squares

Fat Quarters

18" x 22" cuts of fabric

Jelly Rolls

2 1/2" x 44" strips of fabric

I also found this cute video on Quilty to help me figure out what to do with all these pre-cuts.

Sorting the Scraps

For the last nine years I have been carrying around a box of fabrics that I accumulated during my time as a costume designer. This box of fabric has moved to three different states and for the last three years it has sat in storage. Now, it was finally time for me to dump it out and see what's been hiding in there.

So it begins. . . 

The box was so heavy that there was no way I could move it from the garage into the house. It took a few trips back and fourth from the garage to empty the entire box of fabric. I dumped everything into the living room and the first thing I thought after surveying all the fabric was, "damn I have a lot of fabric".

My cat and dog enjoying the mess.

I know I was not going to use all the fabric I had collected. So I divided the fabrics into piles. One pile would be for pieces I didn't mind donating. Another pile would be pieces that I thought my daughter would like to use for her sewing projects. And then the final pile would be for fabric that I would actually use in the next twelve months. If any of this fabric is not used within twelve months, then it will be donated as well. I don't have the luxury of a sewing room or a big area to store things, so I will only keep what I plan to use.

Attempting to sort fabric into manageable piles 

It took a good part of the morning, but I managed to get everything sorted and the living room back to normal.

Here is all that remains of my fabric stash

My fabric is now sorted by color into gallon size Ziploc bags and housed snugly in a draw.

The Return of Needle and Thread

I spent the good part of seven years as a costume designer. Five of those years was working full time as a professional costume designer for Phoenix College in Phoenix, Arizona. When I got married, I walked away from the sewing machine. I held a couple of other jobs before settling into my current position of Homemaker.

I have found great pleasure in knitting, crochet, tatting and the various other crafts I dabble in. Yet, in the past few months, I have found myself being called back to sewing. I think it started when my daughter discovered some of my old ribbons and was attempting to sew them together to make an outfit for one of her dolls. With needle and thread I gave her a crash course in hand sewing and she was soon on her way.

An old felted Christmas tree pillow kit that I bought years ago was suddenly pulled out of the closet and I found myself hand sewing the little penny rug designs to the front of it. My daughter then claimed the pillow as her own, sewing the remaining 'pennies' and stitching the whole thing together. My daughter's sudden interest in sewing has now renewed my interest as well.

I don't plan on sewing clothes for any major productions. Instead, I have decided to take on a new area of sewing- quilting! Well, maybe not so new. . .

You see, once upon a time, I got the quilting bug and made a few quilts. It was while I was a college student taking sewing classes and working as a techie in theatre, I was appalled at all the fabric that I saw being thrown away in sewing class and inside the costume shop. So I would dumpster dive and use the scraps to make quilts as home. This lasted until the moment my sewing machine broke- thus ending my quilting binge.

As a costume designer, I was just to busy with the shows and commissioned work to do much sewing for pleasure.

So, now, almost ten years later, I am starting my journey, (again), into the world of quilting. And this time I plan to document my journey- the good and the ugly.

My goals for this journey? Meet other quilters, learn some new techniques and have a lot of fun playing with fabric.

Knitwear As Art

If you love couture fashions and enjoy seeing someone push the limits on what knitting and crochet can do, then you need to know Sandra Backlund. Go to her sight and bookmark it. Trust me, you'll come back to her sight often.

[caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="The Work of Sandra Backlund"][/caption]