Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I finished my Yo-Yo Quilt May 24!


I finally got my Yo-Yo Quilt finished on May 24th. Anyways, it took me about a year to work on this quilt. I had to start off by buying some yo-yos off of ebay so I could actually see what they looked like when they were sewn. (I didn't want to take apart my Yo-Yo Clown doll that I have because it is older than me.) Once I got some in, I bid on some more just to get a small head start on them. I then used a bunch of my leftover scraps and remenants to make well over 3,000 of the silly yo-yos. Once I had those all made, then came the arduous task of sewing them all together. After the quilt got so big, I had to start sewing them together in "blocks" of so many across and so many down. Those "blocks" then got sewed into "strips" and then sewn onto the quilt.


I was bound and determined to finish my quilt before summer got here so I could take into the school office and show the women in there what it looks like. I sewed for three days straight every chance I got (when not driving the bus or getting tires). I finally sewed the last strip in place last night about 8:45 PM. I am so happy that it is over and done now.


Now I will get start on some other projects that need to be finished before I start sewing another quilt. Both of my girls want me to make quilts for them, so I think that I will make two more yo-yo quilts in queen size for them. Only this time, I will not be using 2" yo-yos. I will make them bigger so I don't have as much sewing to do since it is all hand sewn. I hope to be able to finish those my next Christmas for their presents!


The finished size of my quilt is 108"x108". The ones I am making for my girls will be approximately the same size, but I am making 4-inch yo-yos for theirs.

I went on a hunt for another rotary circle cutter

The other day I was cutting out more circles for yo-yo quilts that I am making for my two daughters. Everything was going along just fine. I got most of the fabric ironed and was in the process of actually doing the cutting, when my cutter's handle broke! I was in quite a quandry because the only other circle cutter I have doesn't cut circles quite as big as I need.

I have searched for two days making two different trips to Hickory, NC just to try and find the type I needed so I could send mine off to be repaired. I knew that Hancock Fabrics carried them, but of course, just because I need it, they are out. I checked several other places and no one carried them. Finally, I broke down today and called Michael's Arts and Crafts as a last ditch effort. I didn't figure they would have them since they don't really carry much in the way of sewing equipment. Boy was I wrong!

They still don't carry much sewing equipment, but they did have about four of the OLFA Rotary Circle Cutters. I bought two of them and four blades. That should tide me over until I can send my other one off to be repaired or replaced. While I was searching, I did check online at www.olfa.com. .

They have some great craft projects for both sewing and paper projects. I hope that you will check them out. I printed out several projects to make at a later date. I will file these in my sewing binder, for future reference.

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