Red and White Yo-yo Quilt ~ 400 yo-yo's Later!

A couple of years ago I saw a picture of a similar quilt to this on Gooseberry Patch and fell in love with it! I simply felt I had to have one and then, typical me, put it to the back of my mind.

The Clover yo-yo maker craze was becoming big here in England and so I gave it a try - having formerly HATED making them the "old-fashioned" way.

I love red and white fabric and happen to have a huge stash of it that gets replenished at every opportunity and so began my endless days of yo-yo making.

 I decided my quilt would need 400 of theses round beauties because I wanted to divide my quilt into quarters - 100 yo-yo's in each quarter!
It took quit awhile and 800 pins to get the balance of colour and pattern right - but I have to say it was such a pleasure to see it spread out on the table!

Next came the hours of happily watching Poirot and hand sewing the yo-yo's.

For the backing, I knew I wanted a red and white ticking and was fortunate enough to find the real thing at my local fabric shop - and, as luck would have it, soft!

I tie quilted 200 alternating yo-yo's into place with red pearl cotton, the ties showing on the back.

My biggest worry in making the quilt was marking the white fabric ready for quilting!
I used one of these!
It's called a Hera Marker, another fab product from Clover. "Easy to handle tracing spatula allows you to place pressure when marking on fabric. Perfect for quilting and sewing". Truer words have never been written!

Again, using pearl cotton, I quilted the border in simple straight lines and got the "look" that I wanted! Rather than binding,I used my usual method of folding in the edges to finish the quilt .

My labour of love took over two years and I loved EVERY minute of it!

Originally Posted on sew-together  by Sharon on Saturday, May 01, 2010

 4 comments:
Angela said... I love this quilt, and the explanations you've put with it.
1 May 2010 15:43

Sharon said... Thanks Angela -I want to make a real effort with this blog now that I have a camera and computer that at the same time!
1 May 2010 15:53

MandeeFranee said... WOW!!! That is GORGEOUS!!! Seriously AMAZING quilt!! I so wish this was a skill I had!
26 May 2010 00:57

Sarah said... We want you to bring over when we both return next week plus Sarah's first quilt. LOVE this quilt. It is a work of art.Imogen
17 August 2010 15:17