How many Yo Yo's are there?

Good afternoon from snowing Kalamazoo! This weather can't seem to make up its mind. One minute it is 60 and the next it is snowing. I'll take the snow on this Saturday to get caught up on invoices, design work, and blog posts!

My grandmother (Donna) brought me this quilt in the hopes of tacking down all these beautiful yo yo's, to a piece of backing, that my great-great-grandmother pieced together. It is in pristine condition as it was kept in a cedar chest most of its life. I think I found one yo yo that was detached from its mates. Absolutely beautiful piece.


My first thought was...How the heck do Francis and I accomplish this?...Do I go through each yo yo both vertically and horizontally?...Do I just do every other row?... Do I go around each yo yo in a circle? What color thread do I use? As you can see I had a million questions running through my head. I have never done a piece like this one, so I really needed to think it through. I belong to a group on Facebook called "Long Arm Quilters". So I thought to myself, lets post a picture and ask advice to see what others have done in the past. I received quite a few tips and tricks! Needless to say, just ask and opinions will be given! From there on I had a plan!



Donna had previously tried to use her domestic machine to sew down the center of the yo yo quilt. I decided to keep this in the original piece. I loaded the backing and carefully layed out the yo yo's on top. Then I started in the center and worked by way down the quilt. Once that was complete I was able to roll the quilt and begin again the center and work my way towards the top.

As you can see the yo yo top is bunched up at the top of the roller bar so I can progress down the quilt first.

Another picture of Francis hard at work. Again you can see the way I had to roll the yo yo's at the top of the quilt so they wouldn't stretch as I progressed down the quilt.

Sometimes I was able to go through the center of each yo yo and sometimes I had to do a serpentine stitch. I think the goal of getting them tacked down was accomplished and didn't take away from the texture of the yo yo's at all. I used grey thread for the top and bottom.
Serpentine stitch through the green/blue/red. The bulk of the center was too much to go through and I didn't want to break the original thread that was used to do the "gathering".
Here I was able to go through the center of the yo yo's.
Just look at all the beautiful yo yo fabrics that were used. I have a few favorites for you to see....





This one reminded me of a clown. I just have to smile when I look at it.



Loved this pink/white/red yo yo.

Does anyone make fabric like this anymore?


One of my favorite yo yo's was this blue/orange one. Just brought a smile to my face.




Here is the quilt all layed out on the floor. Not sure what Donna wants to do with the sheet... whether to make a hem on the outside edges so it matches and is a cleaner look, or to leave it how it is. That plan is up to her! Hopefully this piece stays in our family for more generations to come!

Here is the quilt layed out and finished from the tacking process.


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