Polka Dot Jumbo Yo-Yo Bliss

I'm sure by now you have figured out that my stylemark and passion has everything to do with fabric yo-yo's. This quilt consists entirely of all that I adore.

I know that many of you have made rag quilts before. If you are willing to deal with the massive amount of clipping that is required and the piles of dust that it creates, this is a quick and easy quilt to produce.

I have chosen to include my hallmark jumbo yo-yo flowers to highlight this bright and cheery quilt. I'm sure you already know that I have a passion for polka dots by the title of my blog. I thought that combining both of my loves into one quilt would take me to seventh heaven and I was right. In my opinion, it cannot get any better.

I plan to share more polka dot jumbo yo-yo flower projects in the coming week so please stop by if you can.

If you haven't been able to read far enough into my blog, you may have missed several yo-yo ideas. Have you seen my jumbo yo-yo quilt and tutorial before?

I hope that it inspires you to start a quilt of your own.

Another tutorial that I have put together is one that shows you how to attach a fabric yo-yo to your project by sewing machine. I will be bringing portions of it back to this page directly under this post for those of you who may have missed it. This method was used to attach the jumbo yo-yo flowers to my quilt and is something that I know you will find very useful in your projects too.

I would like to thank everyone who has visited my blog and especially to those that leave comments. I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to get back to you individually but please know that I love hearing from you. You really are a bright spot in my crazy hectic world. Thank you, thank you, thank you!


Have a great weekend.

Aloha!!



TUTORIAL--HOW TO ATTACH A FABRIC YO-YO BY SEWING MACHINE


***This tutorial is intended for personal use only.***

I would like to show you how I have been attaching fabric yo-yo's to my projects with this tutorial. I have been doing it this way for over 25 years. When I first started attaching yo-yo's to projects, it was always difficult to keep the ends from flipping up or if I tacked them down, the stitches would always show. Instead of hand-tacking a completed yo-yo to a project, I use the sewing machine to do the initial anchoring prior to gathering the yo-yo.

This tutorial is designed to show you how to create a 2-1/4-inch completed yo-yo. You can increase the size and make them the size of a bowling ball or larger if you wish.

Here goes...

The first step is to cut a 5-inch fabric circle.

Please note that a 5-inch fabric circle will make a 2-1/4-inch yo-yo.

Since the yo-yo will end up being 2-1/4 inches, trace a 2-1/4-inch circle in the middle of the fabric yo-yo on the wrong side. It should look like this:



Place the right side of your yo-yo circle to the right side of your project with the yo-yo side facing up. Pin in place. It should look like this:



Use your sewing machine to stitch completely around the circle you just drew. You may also hand stitch around the circle if you prefer.



Now, to close the yo-yo, take needle and thread and hand sew using a 1/4-inch running stitch. Make sure to turn the raw edges in 1/4-inch as you sew. It will look like this:



Pull the thread tight and knot off. This is your completed yo-yo attached to your project. This yo-yo isn't going anywhere. It won't lift up on the edges or shift and become lopsided.



Quick, easy and no dealing with the dreaded hand tacking left to do at the very end of your project.

Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been very busy with both personal and crafty things. Unfortunately, I have not completed the project that I gave you a peak of yesterday. I hope to post pictures of the completed project sometime this weekend.

I know that it is no fun to read a post without pictures, so I would like to leave you with these shots of a very practical coaster for your drinks. They were very popular in the 60's in both square and round shapes. I'll do a more conclusive post about it sometime in the future when I get some sewn up in some cute and snappy fabrics.


The base of the wine glass sits comfortably inside the coaster. This eliminates the need to tote a napkin around with your drink. If you'd prefer, your glass can also be placed on top of the coaster instead. They also make nice rugs your coffee or tea mug.


Have a nice weekend!

Aloha!

Wise old owl...

...is sitting on my latest project. Hopefully, I'll have some progress to show you tomorrow.


My plans for a tutorial and giveaway went by the wayside. Too much to do and not enough time has caused me to postpone it to a later date. Please stay tuned.

I'm pooped! Good Night!

Aloha!

Pretty flowers all in a row...

It seems that attaching leaves to my flower pins (my original plan) didn't work out the way I had planned it. Evidently, too much bulk in the back of the pin caused it to lean forward. That plan was scrapped and a more simplistic version has taken it's place.

This is the first pin that I put together. It's too bad about the leaves because it did add a nice contrast to the flower. I wish I had discovered the problem before I made almost 400 leaves. Ugh!



The completed flowers, although quite plain, are still very pretty.


Another view...


A warm welcome to all the new visitors to my blog. My stat counts have gone through the roof. Thank you Libby for the mention on your blog. Libby's blog is new to me and one that I plan to explore much further. She has some beautiful quilts, craft projects, recipes, and pet photo's to share. She recently made an Americana fabric pinwheel which she included in a primitive tableau. Gorgeous!

I am desperately trying to juggle my time on the computer with the time that I need to spend on sewing and crafting. In an effort to do so, starting tomorrow, I will be posting during evening hours. The plan is to keep the computer turned off until evening. This does mean that most of you will get my posts a day late and for that I apologize. I haven't been as productive as necessary so I have to reduce all temptation of staying on the computer all day. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Hope this works!

Have a fabulous day, everyone.

Aloha!

Slowly getting there, one petal at a time....

Hopefully I'll have something pretty to show you tomorrow. For now, I'll leave you with this colorful mountain of petals and leaves. Have a happy day!

Aloha!

Home Tweet Home

Every birdie needs a home, even if it's in a pepper!


I don't really consider this crafting. Buying components and then slapping them together doesn't feel like I put enough effort into it to consider it crafting. To me, this falls into the category of flower arranging. Regardless, this was a fun project to work on.

If you are looking for a quick gift, you can put this together really fast. I started out with a vinyl coated foam green bell pepper. You can usually find these near the artificial flowers in most craft stores. I carved a hole into the pepper and painted the inside (white foam) with dark brown paint. I glued some spanish moss into the hole and a dowel just below it for the mushroom bird to perch on. The base is made from the saucer of a terra cotta pot which was sponge painted with mossy greens and golds. Silk daisies, ivy and spanish moss were added for interest. A raffia bow completes the look. Easy, peasy and a snap to whip up.


I'm sure you're all very much aware of the "new" retro fad. For a long time, I resisted anything considered retro. To me, it was just "old" and nothing else. I guess when you yourself can physically be considered retro, the natural thing is to resist the old in favor of something new. It was a part of my past and I wanted it to stay that way. Follow me so far??? Something happened along the way to make me change my mind. I guess it was the constant barrage of advertising of retro items in fashion and home dec that helped me to do an about face. I now love a burnt orange, lime green, and chocolate brown combination. They are clearly colors that were popular while I was growing up. I can't seem get enough of the new retro and I'm starting to look for it wherever I go.



This brings me to this cool retro wrapping paper that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. The cream, moss green, and aqua blue combination is clearly circa 1950. This is the wrapping on my Mother's Day gift to my mom. I created a simple hang tag which adds to the retro feel.

I really love the new retro even if it's actually the second or third time around for me. The old new has now become the new new, or something like that. Anyway, I adore it no matter how you call it.

If you've read this far, thank you. You are the bees knees, the cat's pajamas, cool cats! Okay, now I'm just getting carried away...

Have a nice day!

Aloha!

Miss Bunny

My photography skills really stink. Sometimes I get lucky. Most times I don't. Today was no exception. After 40 tries, I give up.

For some reason this little bunny was a booger to photograph. I really couldn't capture it the way it looks in person. I always have a problem with yellow's anyway. Oh well, I guess anything is better than a post without pictures, right?


Here's a blurry closeup...


Miss Bunny's body is made from a giant stuffed yo-yo. In fact, so is her head although that has been sculpted a bit to give her face a little definition. Her long floppy ears bring a smile to my face. I hope it brings one to yours!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.

Aloha!