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Monthly Archives: November 2015

Yo-Yo Quilts

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in antique fabric, Mending, old fabrics, Old Quilts, Quilt Collections, Quilt Restoration, Quilt Stories, quilting projects, Yo-Yo quilts

≈ 16 Comments

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1930s quilts, feed sacks, scrap quilts, The Donnellys, vintage fabrics, yo-yo quilts

IMG_3173

It is uncertain of when and where the technique for making yo-yo quilts originated. The earliest known examples date to the 1920s but the technique and pattern became prominent in the next decade. By the 1930s patterns were appearing in the women’s pages of weekly publications. In Merikay Waldvogel’s book ‘Soft Covers for Hard Times’ it is recorded that kits containing materials and instructions were available for making yo-yo projects.

Due to its simplicity and minimal requirements, yo-yo quilts were very popular during the depression era. All that is needed to make a yo-yo quilt is a large supply of scraps, a circle template, a needle and thread. They are a very portable project, that can be put down and picked up again for a few moments of stitching. It is easy to imagine the busy women of this era making a couple of yo-yos when they could spare a few moments

A bundle of yo-yo quilts

A bundle of yo-yo quilts

.

The two yo-yo quilts in my collection were purchased from The Donnellys.

Eileen and Bernie shared the story of how and where they found them. The quilts were bought from an antique shop in Winchester, New Hampshire USA on 7th October 1994. They were lying on the very dirty floor of the shop.

Of the two quilts one is in good condition and the second one needs some repair work.

area needing repair

area needing repair

The first quilt is constructed with 25 yo-yos stitched 5 x 5 to make a block. The blocks are joined with 2 rows of mauve yo-yos to create a lattice effect. Four lemon yo-yos are placed as cornerstones. The maker then created lovely bunting type triangles to give her quilt a very decorative finish.

Lay-out arrangement

Lay-out arrangement

Decorative finish

Decorative finish

The second quilt is a random design but is brighter than the first quilt. Both quilts contain a great assortment of fabrics including feed sacks, dress fabrics, shirtings, ginghams, stripes and juvenile prints. The first quilt was probably the best quilt and the second was the everyday quilt receiving much more wear.

Brighter colours and random placement.

Brighter colours and random placement.

I soaked the quilts for 36 hours in Retro Clean.

Soaking the quilts

Soaking the quilts

After soaking I transferred them to the washing machine. Yo-yo quilts are very heavy and once wet even more so. They had to be machine washed in two separate loads. Once washed and dry I assessed the repair work. The first quilt only needed a couple of yo-yos restitched and two needed replacing. The second quilt is in the repair pile awaiting restoration. Both quilts are a wonderful time capsule of the fabrics from the 1930s and probably include fabrics from earlier decades.

Reverse side of quilt.

Reverse side of quilt.

Detail of fabrics

Detail of fabrics

I hope you enjoyed the stories of the yo-yo quilts. Thank you for stopping by,
Hope your stitching is going well, regards Janette – The Plain Needlewoman.

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Recent Posts

  • (no title)
  • Cathedral Window Quilt circa 1930s
  • Marjie”s Star Quilt
  • Australian Crazy Quilt
  • Clarence Valley Coverlet No. 2

Recent Comments

mcinnesjanette on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Lowana Radel on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Jill on My Wagga Quilt
mcinnesjanette on My Wagga Quilt
Sherry on My Wagga Quilt

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Categories

  • 19th century Madder Fabrics
  • antique fabric
  • antique quilts
  • appliqué
  • Australian Quilts
  • Cathedral Window Quilts
  • Christmas
  • Crazy Quilts
  • Cumbria
  • d'oyleys
  • Doll Quilts
  • Double Pinks
  • English Quilts
  • Feed Sack
  • hand piecing
  • hand quilting
  • handquilting
  • hexagons
  • Mary Brooks Picken
  • Mending
  • North Country quilts
  • old fabrics
  • old quilt tops
  • Old Quilts
  • old sewing books
  • Paper Piecing
  • Postage Stamp Quilts
  • Quilt Collections
  • Quilt Restoration
  • Quilt Stories
  • quilting projects
  • red and green quilts
  • Red and White quilts
  • Redwork
  • Repairing old quilts
  • Scrap quilts
  • Sewing machines
  • Signature Quilts
  • Singer Sewing Manuals
  • Spider Webs
  • stitching
  • Stripe Quilts
  • Strippy Quilts
  • Trip Around the World
  • Turkey Red
  • Uncategorized
  • vintage quilts
  • Waggas
  • Welsh quilts
  • Yo-Yo quilts

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