Lifetime Achievement Quilt

Ok, so it hasn't been achieved yet. BUT!! I've finally started and made (very very small) headway on that yo-yo quilt that I have wanted for my entire life, from the time my Grandma Marge told me what the heck yo-yos were and how they were made and what you could do with them. Besides make creepy clown dolls.

I had started making yo-yos ages ago, like when Davey or Bobby were babies? Anyway, I found a whole bag of them all gathered up nicely....but not nicely enough. They were pretty lumpy looking and not very perfectly round. I compared them with the couple test ones that I had made using my impulse-purchase Clover Yo-yo Maker (size Large 45mm) and they were a touch too big to be compatible. So I strung them all in a rope on a sturdy thread and gave David a yo-yo lei. It looks pretty stupid. Then I decided to give that yo-yo maker a workout!



Here it is! I always thought the idea of needing to use a form to make yo-yos was stupid. Like, REALLY stupid. I'm not even sure what prompted me to buy one. Probably it being there on the rack at JoAnn and only being $5. But it's a pretty slick gadget, no joke. No having to draw out and cut out circles. No having to eyeball your hem allowances. No having to gauge your stitches to get even gathering. Just snap, cut, stitch, and pull up and you get even and perfectly round yo-yos.


See? And I got the itch to actually make use of these in a big way at just the right time. My ex-husband is getting evicted from his retail space by his jackass of a landlord (that's a fun story there, let me tell you!) and I needed to get all of the things I had stored in the coin shop basement out of there. That included the several boxes of sewing patterns and fabric, including two full file boxes of quilting calico. I know just two boxes is a laugh and a half to a quilter, but I don't quilt. At all. I just accumulate, for some reason, and this is what was left after my super-purge that I did two years ago. It should all be more than enough for my yo-yo quilt.


So I sat down with a workbasket and another basket full of fabric, planted myself in front of my rigged-together SAD lamp, pulled up a queue of BBC period dramas starting with Lark Rise to Candleford on my Amazon Prime, and got busy. I decided on a hexagon flower motif, as I figured working in bigger motifs would keep me interested longer than just a random arrangement. Mom had given me a pretty giant piece of a soft yellow pattern for a twined rug I finished for her, so I'm using that for all the connection borders. I've always been partial to yellow.

I'm sure I'll keep updating the progress as I get further. I made it through all four seasons of Lark Rise to Candleford (falling madly in love with Alf Arliss and Queenie Turrell in the process!) and have moved on to Mr. Selfridge. Not sure if I like it. I may switch to something else, like Cranford. (Is that right? The one with Judi Dench?)

So. Cross your fingers, everybody, and send me all the don't-give-up vibes you can muster. Because if I can finish this thing.....that will surely be one heck of a lifetime achievement!
- Stell