Yo-Yo Flowers for Easter

When I was a teenager, our next door neighbor invited my mom and me over to see the yo-yo bedspread she had just finished. It was gorgeous! And I was in love! I envisioned an antique bed with a white coverlet and my very own yo-yo bedspread on top. It wasn't long before I decided I'd be satisfied with a nice pillow sham. Or maybe a cute little decorative pillow. That was before I admitted to myself that I don't really do well with long-term projects.

Yo-yo's are made by running a gathering stitch around the outside of a circle and pulling it almost tight. 

Then tie it off (so it looks like a Barbie shower cap) and flatten it into a circle. Cute, huh? Now whip up about 3,000 of those little puppies and you have a bedspread! Seriously. If each finished yo-yo is 1 1/2 inches across, you'll need a block of 64 yo-yo's stitched together to fill a square foot, so a 6 x 8 bedspread will need just over 3,000 yo-yo's. That decorative pillow is sounding better all the time, right?

This block of 36 measures nine inches across. I started with 3 1/2 inch fabric circles and ended up with        1 1/2 inch yo-yo's. It isn't all stitched together yet, but it should give you the general idea.

I started this card with that kind of yo-yo, but I decided I like this variation better. It's the same kind of flower I used on one of the "craftcycled" tags last week. Instead of a circle I tore a strip of muslin 3/4 inch wide and about 4 1/2 inches long and ran the gathering stitch along one edge.

I like the frayed edges. It won't quite lay flat, so just snip about halfway in from the outer edge to make some petals. I use this tiny little flatiron (it's only 6 inches long) for pressing small items. I find it easier to use than the ribbon iron it replaced.

 I wanted a little bit of pattern so I stamped some polka dots and paisleys on the muslin before stitching, and added some jewels and pearls to the centers of the "flowers."

To put the card together, I cut a Nesties curved rectangle and inked the edges, tied a piece of seam binding into a bow, and attached the flowers and an oval with "Happy Easter." There was still something missing, so 

I tried a doily. A spritz of walnut ink toned down the white to blend with the unbleached muslin. The doily was too wide for the card, so I folded some pleats in the center to make it more of an oval.  

That's exactly what it needed! I love the little ruffles the pleats make at the top and bottom. 

How cool would it be to have a yo-yo bedspread made only with muslin? Then you could use any color sheet or coverlet under it and that color would peek through between the circles. Oh, no! Here I go again!

Thanks for stopping by! See you Friday!