Yo-Yo Pillow

 Soooooo....a few months ago I was at a store and I saw a pillow made out of yo-yos.  I fell in love right up until I saw the price....52 dollars.  Eeeck.  I then began the process of taking it apart in my head and figuring out if I could make it.  I recently went to a retreat with some friends, some of who lived through the yo-yo making craze the first time around and they taught me how to make yo-yos.  It's super easy, and I blogged about it yesterday.  If I were really adventurous I would make a quilt, but.....that's not going to happen.  Sooooo, I've actually been trying to slowly acquire/make a collection of throw pillows for my living room to replace the pillows that are ten years old.  I want them to be eclectic and colorful....who knew it was so hard to find fun pillows.  I decided this was a must.  I won't go through the yo yo making process again, that's all document on yesterdays post, but basically, once you have a bunch of yo yos (I needed enough to cover a 12x12 piece of fabric....

 I decided to sew them all together but running a little thread towards the back of each yo yo and tying several knots.

 I took a piece of cream colored fabric cut to 12 by 12 and I pinned the four sides down. 

 I sewed a big square towards the edge, and then I took a needle and thread and I went through the center of each yo yo to attach it more securely to the pillow.  Clearly, it's a good thing I'm not a doctor in charge of stitching people up given my creative needle work. 

 At the suggestion of my friend, Jolene, I actually sewed 3 3/4 sides together with the right sides facing out.....since I was going to add a little binding, these seems will be covered, and I was able to insure I caught the edge of each outside yo yo a second time. 

 I then cut 2 1/4 inch piece of fabric (enough to go around all four sides, so....a little more than 48 inches).  I folded it and sewed the raw edge down to the front, the folded seam facing in towards the front of the pillow.  I brought it to the same opening. 

I stuffed the pillow, then finished closing it up and sewing on the last little bit of binding by hand.   I pulled the folded seam over all those stitches to the back side of the pillow and took a needle and caught the fold and the edge of the back of the fabric of the pillow to finish it off.  The same process as a quilt. 

 You could also use seam binding that only requires one stitch, but I was trying to be frugal and use the fabric at hand. A new concept for me....frugal.  It will probably last until tomorrow's post.