Yo-Yos!

I have recently discovered these delightful little contraptions.  If you don't know already, they are yo-yo makers. 

Yo-yos are an old way of making quilts out of scraps of fabric, and they look wonderfully attractive.  What you do is sandwich some fabric between the two pieces of plastic and then stitch around using the holes as a guide.  You then take out your fabric and pull it together with the stitches and you end up with a cute little gathered round.  I made a card using the green yo-yo maker here:

 

These are obviously very small yo-yos, about 3cm diameter, but you can get much bigger ones which look great stitched together and made into a bedspread or throw for your bed.  I think they would also look nice as jewellery - I may try that next!

There are also different shapes you can buy such as flowers and hearts.  Here's a card I made with the heart yo-yo maker:

You can cover the middles with buttons, as I have done here, for extra interest. 

Yo-yo makers are available from several fabric and quilting suppliers.  A quick Google search should bring up lots of stockists.  I got mine from Dungarees and Daisies, but they are also available from The Cotton Patch (there are some lovely examples of how to use yo-yos at The Cotton Patch) and Ebay.

Hope you like this idea and I'll see you again soon!

TFL! Joanne x

Comments

[Eleanor]

Love the placement of those 6 yoyos on a plain background, those and nothing else, is just perfect.
E
xx

[Debbie Roberts]

BEautiful might just have to buy some of these, love the card.