Tuesday, June 4, 2013

How to make a yo-yo quilt

 I am never done with decorating my home. It is always a work in progress. 

 I started another yo-yo quilt.  I like the little yo-yo quilt at the end of my bed, but it is very small. This time I am going to make a bigger yo-yo quilt.
 
A lot of quilters asked me how to make a yo-yo quilt.
 Here is a very short tutorial.
You need a big piece of quilted fabric, a solid light color will be best and yo-yos. If quilting is not your thing to do, you can ask your longarm quilter to quilt one for you.
 
I have quilted over 2,000 quilts with an edge to edge pattern (2 pennies per inch). 
 Now that you have your big piece of fabric quilted, throw the yo-yos on the quilt. I use school washable glue to glue the yo-yos on the quilt. You can use quilters glue or pins. Some yo-yos are upside down, just turn them around. If you do not like it, just move the yo-yo somewhere else.
 
I first throw all the green and blue yo-yos. You can do any color combination. There is not a right or wrong way to do this. Wait for the glue to dry.
 Sew the yo-yos on the quilt using the leftover thread from the yo-yos.
 First layer yo-yos are sewed on. Throw more yo-yos on. This time I am doing a layer of warm colors. You can add as many yo-yos as you like and stop when you think you have enough.
 Just another tip, it is best to finish the binding before you start sewing the yo-yos on. But if you are like me and can't wait to get some yo-yos on the quilt the finished binding will have to wait for later. Ta-da and you have a pretty yo-yo quilt. I used a cotton batting and can't wait to get mine done and washed. Please feel free to ask me if you need more help.
 Picture above and below is my first finished yo-yo quilt.
 
My pillows in the bedroom started to look very old. I went to Hobby Lobby and got a few yards of duck cloth and made four pillow covers. I love the texture of the fabric.
  Not only did I paint my entry way, I  made two more pillow covers
  The pillows go so well with the quilt and the new wall color. For $5 I have two "new" pillows - not bad at all.
Happy quilting,
Millie