Cincinnati

What you see in this photo is an assortment of yo-yo's. Hand gathered little circles that are drawn up and measure about two inches before they are flattened into this shape and are made into "quilts". No backing or batting is normally added, just hundreds or even thousands of gathered circles that are stitched together edge-to-edge to complete the project.

But do you really know what this is a photo of?

I will show you the finished project at the bottom of this post. It was one of the entries in the Quilt Festival Show in Cincinnati.

We were vending at the Cincinnati show at the Duke Energy Convention Center. If you look closely you can see the edge of our double booth over in aisle 5, across from the Superior Threads booth. This photo only shows our end of the convention center. There was plenty more to enjoy at the opposite end of the huge room.

The show set-up was wonderful and there was plenty of quilting eye-candy. Being across from Superior Threads booth meant that as I demonstrated in our booth, this was the view that I had - not bad, not bad at all!

The quilts in their booth were wonderful and I was especially fond of the delectible mountain piece with the red border. The quilting was spectacular, but there is something about the way that the fabric shades through the colors that really appealed to me. After seeing it for 4 straight days, I know that I am going to have to make my own version of it. I will have to "put it on the list" of things I want to do as soon as I have time.

Do you have a list of quilts that you plan to make "someday"? My list includes a scrappy log cabin with lots and lots of tiny rails as well as a batik double wedding ring that doesn't even have to be a whole quilt, I would be happy with a table runner. I should probably plan to finish those twin quilts for our guest room that I have been working on for three, no four.... ok, about SEVEN years, but first I want to make another set of baby quilts for the twins that our daughter is expecting. Before that, I have to finish the pieces that I am working on for Quilt Market next month...... it is nice to know that there is no shortage of quilting in my future!

Now to show you what I will NOT be doing with my quilting time. I will not be making yo-yo's.... but if I did, I would hope that I would make something as unique as this.

Pretty amazing huh?

Doesn't that make you wonder where ideas like this come from?

Do you think the quiltmaker saw a handfull of yo-yo's laying on the table and thought, "Gee, that looks like my daughters eyes"? Maybe she has an aversion to sewing squares together or thought "Squares, been there, done that, I think I will photo shop circles into a scalloped edge quilt.

Maybe she had a few hundred yellow yo yo's left over from another project?

What is your best guess as to how something as unique as this gets started?