Valentine Yo-Yo Table Runner

Remember these? 

When I was a teen, crafty people were making vests, place-mats and who know what else from them, but in my blog perusing recently, I came across a table runner that inspired me to make a Valentine version that I showed on yesterday's post.

My phone showed a missed call and voice-mail tonight, and when I touched the screen to see who had called, I was surprised and pleased to see the picture of a friend whose voice I haven't heard in years. We were neighbors on our college's married housing campus, graduated with growing pregnant bellies under our gowns, and found excuses to hang out as our babies grew to toddlers and we added more babes to our families. She moved home to Maine a number of years ago and was breaking our phone silence wanting to know how I made the table runner that was in my post yesterday.

(I called them pinwheels, but they are yo-yos, which is probably why she couldn't find a tutorial when she googled it...and that just shows you how my brain works. I'm the creative mind, not the detailed, precise sort of mind. And I make mistakes. All the time.)

It's a good thing I had this post nearly ready to publish! So here you are Ruth!

Start with a pile of fabric scraps cut into circles 4 inches in diameter. I've been thinking I would really like one of these in plain white fabric or a white on white pattern.

Stitch around the edge of the circle, about 1/4 of an inch from the edge. On the first stitch, the needle should be inserted from the right side (the patterned, printed side) of the fabric to the back like Megan is pictured stitching above. The loose threads will then be on the right side of the fabric, making the next step easier.

Now I just realized this is the tricky part and you might want pictures...so I quick took a couple. (I couldn't hack the evening interior lighting so I've changed the color saturation....)

Loose threads on right side of fabric:

Pull on threads till the circle looks like so:

Continue until the gathers are tight in the middle:

 

 Notice my nails? I don't need a hand model anymore! 

(Robb quit biting his nails soon after he lost the first 25 pounds. 

I guess one discipline leads to another. Not to be outdone, I have also quit biting. Again.

Hopefully for the last time. )

You can play with the gathers a bit so they are evenly distributed, 

but I don't put that much effort into the process. 

Tie the first half of your knot.

At this point you may want an extra set of hands. 

Stick one finger on the gathers, continually poking at the middle and keeping the rough ends down as you pull the thread tight with the other hand. 

I like my manicured nails, yes I do.

Tie it tight, making sure the ends are all tucked in.

Thread a needle with the extra thread ends, insert needle into center of circle and exit the edge of the circle. 

Cut off thread ends, iron flat, and viola....

Before you know it you'll have a pile of these:

With just a few more stitches attaching the circles together, you should have something like this:

Picture taken with Retro Cam on my Evo. What is your favorite phone camera app?

And what do you remember being made from yo-yos?

I love us.

I visit him at the office on Friday, to pick up a check, and there they sit on his desk, waiting for me. Roses. A bit of heather and seeded eucalyptus.

He likes to give me my Valentine early so I won't worry that he'll forget.

I think that's funny. But I love it.

  Valentine pinwheel table runner Megan and I are working on. 

We may be finished by next Valentine's Day.

He gives me two cards, one with his words, and one that's good for an hour massage. By a professional.

He's not the professional, but I don't mind.

 Heart strings how-to at Family Fun

His card reads, "I've recently learned to love this day. I now realize this is our day...." and I think of the commercial that says Valentine's Day is not about I love you, but about I love us.
 

And I think it's ironic that when we are particularly pleased with ourselves, we actually say something similar:

"Go us!"

My card reads, "I'm so happy and it's all your fault." A bit of humor, but oh, so honest. I have a tendency to blame-shift, and even on Valentine's Day, I stay consistent.

He laughs. He thinks I'm funny too.

I love us.

Vintage Valentine Wreath

Remember this? My fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants Christmas card wreath? By the end of the season, it was plumb full of cards. But with Valentine's Day approaching, and the rest of the kitchen decorated, it was beginning to feel a little out of place.

So I stripped it.

Poor bare wreath. Can't leave it that way, all sad with haphazard ribbon.
No, it won't do.

So I did what I always do. I searched the great and mighty Google.

And then I found a veritable treasure trove of Free Printable Valentines.
Cue in the sound of the printer. And paper cutter.

Not quite right.

There we go.

For now, this works for me and my kitchen wall. But I have a real hankerin' to hit up Walmart for a couple of canvases, get out my paint brushes, and make true my threat to forge a painting or two for myself.

You never know. It could happen.

Want to try it for a weekend project? Use a wire coat-hanger bent into a circle tied up with wired ribbon in the same way as I have done above. Then simply paper clip various shapes of valentines and paper doilies to your liking.

Heart Ring Valentine

Grandma's Books

 

Going to Grandma's always means books and reading. This is the home that had a TV only for watching the Olympics or world events or Christian videos. Reading and crafts filled the hours here.

 

And, oh, the books! After 17 years of homeschooling, Mom and Dad have quite the library, so it was no surprise yesterday when Mom pulled out a story relevant to the coming holiday. Check it out here.


No, I am not being paid for sharing this. I am doing it out of the goodness of my own heart. :)