Quilts

As everyone knows my maternal grandmother passed in April. Well, since this event, my mom and her sisters have uncovered 15 (or more) hand made quilts. No one knew that my grandmother made quilts...and most are pondering the idea of "how did she have time for this?" knowing that she had 10 children across a span of 20 years. Each of her daughters has claimed a quilt and each grandaughter was given one too. One of the quilts was made in a way that I had never seen done before.

Have you heard of a Yo-Yo Quilt? Apparently these were popular in the 1920s and 1930s. They are made by taking 4" fabric circles and stitching them into a circle puff and then piecing all of the circle puffs together. I looked on the internet and some of the antique Yo-Yo quilts (still in good condition) are selling for 5-600 dollars. Yikes! Well, my point in sharing this is that they are beautiful and I was excited to learn my grandmother's secret. (this photo is an internet example, not my grandma's quilt, although very similar)

I already knit and crochet like both of my grandmothers were known to do, and I've attempted quilting but just never enjoyed how much space and time it took up. See, with crocheting I can do it in the car, I can do it while watching TV, I can do it while sitting around talking with friends. Quilting...its much bigger and not so travel friendly...so I thought...the Yo-Yo quilt technique, however, allows you to make all the pieces by hand (so maybe while riding in the car) and then you piece it together. I think the piecing together used to be intended as a social project hence you needed enough for everyone to do. By social, I mean that all the family's women could sit around and piece after a family dinner and at the end of the night you'd have a quilt. Doesn't that sound efficient? Anyone want to help make a yo-yo?