April 11, 2019 – Empty spool of thread

        There is something exciting about an empty spool of thread.  When You get down to the very last 30 inch strand that you lace through the eye of your needle you have made your own testament of “much accomplished”.  It is a moment that you reflect on how you have used up yards and yards of thread.

         Empty spools of thread will be often as I work on my yo-yo project.  I’ve already emptied a second spool and I am only on row eight rows in this project.

         During the month of January and February I pulled cotton shirts from my closet and my husband’s closet that no longer fit.  I washed them, then shredded them – that is took off the cuffs, collar and front button plackets.  Then cut up the under arm seam and around the shoulder seams in order to get smooth pieces to iron and then draw 3 inch circles.

         Those circles I cut out meticulously. Counted and stacked I tucked them away in zip lock bags.

         I needed about 4,600 of those circles to attempt at making a yo-yo bedspread.  I then prowled in thrift shops – always going after the XL or XXL shirts that were colors of my liking.  I’d purchase six shirts each trip and come home, wash and dry them and again – shred them to make circles.

         Each week I’d hunt at another thrift shop and do the same thing – purchase, wash, dry, shred, iron, make circles and cut them out - until I had about 50 different bags of yo-yo circles.

         Easily I found that long sleeve shirts netted more yo-yo circles than short sleeve.  And, looking for the most ‘bang-for-my-buck’ I went after the largest shirts.

         Then I marked and cut out circles from an old set of pillow cases and an old linen table cloth that had enough stains to warrant its destruction.

         Thus, I had accomplished the first goal – I had my 4,600 yo-yo circles.

         Next, I sewed one of each into a circle puff and tossed them on a table.  That is when I had the fun time of complementing each or contrasting each in a pleasing way to make a strand of 55 yo-yos.  Once I got the stripes or plaids or solids to coordinate in a pleasing way to me – one next to the other, I marked each bag with a number 1-55.  I stashed them in sequential order in shoeboxes. [Wonderful thing empty shoeboxes . . .]

         I then created five stacks - one each of 55 colors – sealing them in a zip lock bag, and putting the 1-55 colors in shoeboxes in a cupboard.  When I finish making yo-yo puff out of one bag, I reach for another.  I replenish my stock once I finish sewing them into round puffs.

         During down time – early morning drinking coffee and watching the news or evenings during the commercials – I made the yo-yos – one at a time – and I would string them up on a thread in the sequence that I did them – maintain the continuity of the pleasing contrasts.

         This created “sausages” of yo-yo’s ready to be sewn together.

         When I finished two “sausages”, I proceeded to sew them together.  I dropped the first color to the end and attached each sequential yo-yo to the side of the first 55-foot strand.  This started the creation of a pattern.  The next row – I dropped the first two and put them at the end.  As I continued in – I have a pattern that streams one color in a diagonal row.

         Yes, this is tedious, yes this is slow – but then, most things that take time are well worth the effort - like good cooking.

         How long is this going to take?  I don’t actually care. I find it my relaxing “down time” project – in the dusk of the morning – before brick laying or in the settling in of darkness in the evenings when I am tired from the brick laying.

         It will get done when it gets done – I just know that I have all the yo-yo circles ready and waiting for this project.

         Currently I am sewing on row nine - here is a picture of a portion of the yo-yo project where you can see the diagonal design. 

Good sewing to you.