Right and Wrong Ways to Make a Yo-Yo

Back in 2010 when I bought my Clover Yo-Yo Maker, I made quite a few yo-yos and used some of them on my Pagoda Quilt.  Four years later, I was making more for my Yo-Yo Wreath.  On this second time around, I was more creative and found some wrong ways to do it.  I thought I better write them down so I don't do them again. 

Be sure your fabric is wrong side up before you snap it between the two pieces of plastic.  Your "sandwich" should look just like this.

After snapping the fabric in place and trimming it, you're ready to sew.  But don't do it this way!  You have to catch that raw edge and pull it down with your stitches - see next photograph.

This is the right way to do it.  Also, after you sew all the way around, take one more stitch past where your knot is.  That will make for nice, even gathering.

Here's another wrong thing to do.  Don't stitch over the plastic.  How do you think you're going to pop off the back piece of plastic if you've sewed them shut?

 

Here's the right way.  After learning this lesson, I made another yo-yo where I did most of the stitching this way, then somehow switched over to sewing over the plastic again.  Don't feel bad if you do this, too.  I must have been tired that night.

Eventually it all comes out just fine, and should look like this.  Note the double stitches at 3 o'clock.

Just start pulling on the stitches and it magically curls up like a little Woolly Bear in the palm of your hand.

So cute, and ready to tie the knot.  You'll want to use thread that matches really well, because it's hard not to have a little bit of thread show.

I hope I don't discover any other wrong ways in the future, but if I do, you'll be the first to know.

Yo-Yo Wreath: A Scrappy Project

Two months ago I became scrap happy, after finally setting on a scrap-fabric-storage solution that pleased me.  Now it's time to start making something out of those little snippets of nothing.  Maybe some of my "scrappy projects" might be something you'd like to try.

How about a yo-yo wreath?

I added some bells for sound and sparkle.

I used a variety of colors, prints, and textures.  The aqua yo-yo at the top is flannel.  The dark teal at the lower left makes a subtle statement with its subdued color, yet the jeweled button prevents it from disappearing altogether.

I used up my most interesting buttons on this project.  The blue one on the right looks like flower stamens.

And the button on the left is an entire flower bud.  Sometimes I used beads, like on the right.  A dab of Aleene's Tacky Glue holds them in place. 

Yo-yos go right out to the edge. 

The yo-yos are attached with Aleene's Tacky Glue, just like I did with the buttons and beads; but the bells are wired on.

The directions that came with my yo-yo maker were sparse, so I creatively learned some ways to NOT make yo-yos.  More about that next week.

From the Vault - Pagoda

Welcome to another installment of From the Vault.  In this series,  I pull out an old quilt from one of my plastic tubs in the basement.  Some of these quilts are no longer my style or color palette.  Some I still like quite a bit, but they've been edged out on the main floor by others I like better.

This is one I still like, but don't have room to hang.

I finished this quilt in November 2010.  It's 20 inches wide and 24 inches tall.  

Three things inspired this quilt:

1. The fat quarter batik (used in the center panel) that I didn't want to cut up.
2. I had seen quilts made in sections like this, with beads holding the sections together, and I wanted to try it.
3. Yo-yo fever.  I bought a yo-yo maker and went crazy.  I have oodles more that I haven't used yet.

I free-motioned around the hibiscus motif, then had it ingrained enough that I did the same pattern on the side panels.

The hard part with the beads was finding enough variety that were the same diameter, or in the case of small beads, that added up to the right diameter.

 

When I quilted the two side panels, I made the leaves one-directional, just like they were growing.  The yellow panel has nice parallel edges, but the burgundy panel doesn't - one side has quite an unintended swoop.  When it came time to attach them I found out I had a problem.  I needed to put the burgundy on the right and the yellow on the left in order to balance the colors of the center panel - go look at the first photo and you'll see what I mean.  

That meant I had to turn the burgundy panel upside down because I needed the one parallel side to be the beaded side, in order to make the opening come out even.  So now the leaves are growing down.  Those upside-down leaves annoyed me for quite awhile, until I figured nobody would notice.  Except now you know - but you won't tell anyone else, right?!?!

I hot-glued beads in the center of some of the yo-yos, and some are left blank, like these in the header.  Although it's easy and fun to make them with the Clover yo-yo maker, getting them to be a nice symmetrical circle with a tight center is harder than it looks.  You can see the one on the right is crooked.  I'm kind of over yo-yos now; my new love is hexagons.  Maybe if I made yo-yos with some of my beautiful modern fabric I'll like them again.