Yo-Yo Quilting

Making a yo-yo quilt is a fun and decorative way to gather all your left over fabric pieces together and use them to make a beautiful craft project. Here are the steps for making your own yo-yo quilt.

Choose a plastic lid or a CD as a circle template for your yo yos. The yo yo will end up being about half the size of your circle template, so choose wisely. Remember the smaller the size of the yo yos the more sewing you will have to do to connect them all together for your quilt. Alternatively you can purchase Yo-Yo Makers to assist you in the whole process.

Trace and cut out your circles then start the hem of the first yo yo by ironing a 1/4" seam around the edge of the circle. Then take your needle with the thread knotted on the end and sew all the way around the hem with short forward stitches. Do not do any backstitching because you will be gathering these stitches.

Pull the threads slowly on each side of the hem until you have gathered the stitches and the circle will become a little pouf with gathered edges. (This is your first yo yo.) There should be a hole about 1/4" to 1/2" wide in the center of the yo yo. Flatten the yo yo so that the hole is centered.

Check your yo yo to make sure that it is not too tightly gathered then knot the threads. The side with the gathered hole is called the 'top' side.

When you have completed a large number of yo yos then start to assemble your quilt. Experiment with your yo yos by arranging them into different layouts until you are satisfied with the look of your quilt.

Place two yo yos 'top' sides up, edge to edge and whipstich them together. To make a whipstitch sew the edges together with stitches about 1/16" apart. To secure the whipstich thread let it hang out and work several stitches around it. Continue sewing together yo-yos until the quilt is the size that you want it to be.

This type of quilt does not require any kind of backing unless you would like to add one of your choice. Enjoy your new quilt and congratulations on learning a new craft that you can share with others all year round.