You may remember this vintage yoyo quilt I picked up at a garage sale last year... (I blogged about it here)
As I mentioned then, there were lots of places where threads were loose, and many yoyo's were no longer connected. Recently I opened it up and took a good look at it, and it was in worse shape than I thought. I determined that the yoyos were probably feedsack fabrics, and the quilt might have been made back in the 1930's. But the blue backing fabric was clearly a later addition, I'm guessing in the 80's because it was shiny chintz in that purple-blue that was so popular. Because of that, and also because I had to mend the yoyos from the back, I pulled out my trusty seam ripper and removed it.
And then I spent many evenings with it puddled around my chair as I patiently stitched each dangling yoyo back to its neighbors. And something happened while I was caring for that old quilt... I began to connect with its creator. I could imagine her (I like to think it was a woman) planning, cutting, stitching, smiling with each connection made. And I couldn't help but look closely at the vintage fabric in each yoyo, loving each charming pattern and design. When it was done, I decided to document those fabrics, so I systematically photographed each block from the back, like so...
And so...
I won't share each one here, but if you're at all interested, the pics can be seen on flickr, in this set.
And they make a nice mosaic...
Something else interesting, and even a bit profound, is that while I was mending this quilt, I somehow was also mending myself. Its been a rough couple of years and I hadn't realized how much it had affected me. I was feeling like I had a few loose threads, and my spirit was in need of some reconnecting. Whatever the reason, by the time it was done, my outlook was much brighter.
I still haven't determined where the quilt will go in my house. Wherever it is, I'll always smile when I see it.
Cheers,
Jenny
