My husband and I found this beautiful quilt at an antique show yesterday. It is all hand stitched and in great condition and is large enough to cover a full size bed. It had to have taken hours and hours to complete. I couldn't resist so am calling it my Christmas present to myself. The second picture is a close up to show the detail.
Look at all the work in that! What a great present to yourself. I'll have to show this to my mom, who is a quilter. Are they really called Yo-yos?
Really beautiful. I can see why you couldn't resist. My Mom and Richard's Mother both quilted. It takes a lot of time and patience.
I started to make one of those once. I had a big box full of them. I wonder what happened to them. Probably left behind when we moved from Wisconsin to Arizona. It is a beautiful quilt. I'm glad you bought it. Dooley
That is beautiful and a great Christmas Gift .Each one of those little blocks are gathered somehow aren't they ? If so that takes for ever to do. A friend in Oklahoma did one of those .I can't remember just how it was done but its unforgettable if you ever see one as I was 8 years old when we moved back to Texas from Okla.
Each one of those "yo-yos" is made from a circle of fabric, gathered up with a running stitch around the folded over outer edge of the circle. Then each yo-yo is whipped stitched to the next one. You can pull the circle into a yo-yo after putting a small piece of batting inside but most of them are empty. They are sometimes laid over a solid color bedspread or sheet...after all that work you are really glad that there is no quilting involved. I have never made a whole quilt but have made several pillow covers and a vest. That one is really pretty, it has the look of another quilt design but I don't have my quilting books any longer and I don't remember the name of the pattern I am thinking of. Nice Christmas present gift for yourself, I know you will really enjoy it.
I was just to young to figure out exactly how is was done but I never forgot how beautiful it was and all those little gathers impressed me.
What language are you speaking Toni? I really don't know what effort goes into putting one of these together but it looks pretty darned impressive to me. Great find Polly, some mighty talented people out there.
Polly, on one site I found it said, "The modern way to attach a yo-yo is with the gathered core facing down and the smooth, pretty side up. On original Depression-era quilts and pillows, the gathered sides faced upward, so whichever looks best to you is correct." I couldn't tell from the pic which way yours was facing.
Polly yours looks like they folded over the edges of the circles before gathering them up, it keeps them from unraveling, makes them look more finished and makes the whole thing "reversible". It also means the maker spent the extra time and effort to make something that will last longer. Prim, they are called yo-yo's because in the time period that design was the most popular, they looked like a yo-yo and it also could very well be that a yo-yo was used as the pattern for the circles. Sorry for the language barrier Frank. I have been sewing since I was 10 (50 yrs) and sometimes I forget to speak plain English :-D Sorta like Randy when he starts talking computers to me.
WOW!!!! I'd never have the patience (or eyesight nowadys) to tackle something as special as that quilt. Absolutely beautiful!!!! What a great find. :-D
Thank you for the compliments. Right now I have it displayed when I can see it. We are using the gathered side as the right side - the smooth side has some stains on it. I too have made some projects using these yo yos so know how much work goes into it but never anything to this extent.
