Trunk Show Tuesday: The Yo-Yo Quilt

Another antique quilt emerges from the trunk today. It is a yo-yo quilt and quite the fad between the 1920's to 1940's. History books hint that it may be named for the yo-yo toy invented in the Philippines, but brought to the United States by Pedro Flores in the 1920's and later made famous by a businessman named Donald Duncan. We can all remember Duncan yo-yo's, but until recently I did not even begin to tie the toy to this quilt.



My mother had very strong feelings about this quilt... or actually just a coverlet... since it has no batting/backing. She told me how it was a hot fad and every young woman grabbed their scrap bags, made a small round template and started drawing/cutting/sewing circles into yo-yo's. These would become the staple "travel" piecing for the ladies... a very portable and simple design to stitch. Grocery bags would be filled, and filled, and filled again. The ladies depleted their scraps bags in quick time and were soon begging leftover scraps from friends/relatives. When extra pennies were available remnants were purchased from the local department store fabric counter. During the hard times of that era, fabric purchases were thought about for a long, long time.



Now I'll explain why my mother had "strong" feelings about this quilt. She told me by the time the last yo-yo was sewn; she had consumed over twelve yards of fabric... and this being just a top with no backing! That was an extreme hardship for that era, but as you know quilters will do what they have to, I'm sure the food money or something was pinched to afford that fabric! ;-) The other issue she shared was that if you actually use this quilt, the stress from the weight of the quilt being moved/used, will demand mending the little whipped seams constantly. I have a fondness for the border yellow design and I'm sure my mother liked the quilt overall. However, she did scoff it greatly and told me if I ever needed money, to be sure to sell this one first! I've no idea if that is an indication of her animosity for it after it used all of her fabric scraps or more of an indication that she thought I might be headed for poverty! ;-)



The quilt had two matching pillows that seem to have disappeared over the years, but the quilt has survived at least. When the fad resurfaced during the late sixties/early seventies, I was the first girl with a wardrobe full of yo-yo vests! I honestly didn't appreciate the work that went into those vests... a fraction of what goes into a quilt... but still more than a busy woman has time for these days.

Well, that is the end of my post today. I'm off to contemplate my life of poverty, while I enjoy the treasures/memories that I've grown up with! Until next time, happy stitching!

Chartreuse Moose