YO-YO QUILTS

Historical Context
The Yo-Yo quilt was a popular style of
quilt making in America from the
1920-40s. Yo-Yos, or tiny circles of
Design Elements fabric, were gathered up at the
edges and sewn together to create a
The Yo-Yo quilt uses a palette of yellows and sunny, warm colors. The round
three-dimensional effect. Yo-Yo quilts
shapes of the Yo-Yos contrast with the square blocks of this quilt. The maker,
were popular because women could
Ura Mills, selected a deep solid yellow for the Yo-Yos that form the bold
carry the little circles of fabric with
diagonal lines that outline each block.
them and make Yo-Yos whenever
they had a free moment.
Another way to explain the
popularity of the Yo-Yo quilt may be its
association with the toy called the
Yo-Yo, very popular in the 1930-40s.
There are many theories or ideas
about how long the Yo-Yo has been in
existence. But we know that a
wooden toy with a string looped
around the center axis was devel-
oped in the Philippines over 100 years
ago. Some people believe that the
Yo-Yo comes from the Filipino word for
“come-come” or “return”. In the
1920s a man named Pedro Flores
brought a Filipino Yo-Yo to the United
States. A businessman named Donald
Duncan bought the Filipino Yo-Yo
Company around 1928. In 1932 Mr.
Duncan received a trademark for the
word Yo-Yo.
(For more information about the history of
the Yo-Yo toy go to: www.spintastics.com/
HistoryOfYoYo.asp)

Artists and Origin

The beautiful Yo-Yo quilt from the
Quilts of Alaska exhibit was made by
Ura Birdie (Conkle) Mills in Santa Ana,
California, around 1934. The warm
colors and circular shapes remind us
of the sunny California landscape
where Mrs. Mills lived. Quilt artists
frequently choose colors and shapes
that are meaningful to them. Yo-Yo
quilts take determination and perfec-
tion because each individual circle
must be exactly the same size in
order for the quilt to be pieced
together correctly. “Leslie Mills
Hamilton, a granddaughter of the
maker, received the large (88" x 100")
Yo-Yo quilt after her marriage. Though
far from its original setting in a
California farm house, the quilt and
the walnut bed for which it was
made are still together in Kenai.”
(Quilts of Alaska, p. 39)

FIGURE 14: Yo-Yo, c.1934, cotton,

88” x 100”
Visit the Alaska State Museum’s website — www.museums.state.ak.us
Compare/Contrast CIRCULAR PATTERNS
Pattern and color are very important Compare the way circles
design elements in quilts. The Yo-Yo
quilt (FIGURE 16) uses a circular
are used to carry out the
pattern, a three-dimensional design design in three different
and warm colors to create a quilts:
magnificent and pleasing
whole. Figure 15 – Double
Wedding Ring
Figure 17 – Fan
Figure 18 – Rising Sun

FIGURE 16: Chief Snake, 1935,

73” x 91”

FIGURE 17: Fan, 1907-1925,

81” x 82”

THREE-DIMENSIONAL
The Yo-Yo technique
actually creates a
FIGURE 15: Double
Wedding Ring, “puffy” or three-
c.1979, 78” x 100” dimensional look.
What other quilts in
COLOR the show use color
The Yo-Yo quilt gives the or pattern to create
viewer a sunny and warm a three-dimensional
feeling. Compare the feel- look?
ings you get from the four
quilts on this page. Which FIGURE 18: Rising Sun, 1934,
do you like best? Why? 79” x 82”
 An Activity Using Yo-Yo Quilt

WEARABLE YO-YOS: CREATING YO-YO QUILT PIECES

Can quilts be toys?
Level: Intermediate (grades 3-5)

Summary Part Three

• Use Yo-Yos to decorate garments or join them together
Students learn how to make a simple Yo-Yo piece
to form a fabric of Yo-Yos.
used in Yo-Yo quilts and create a variety of uses for
• Discuss again how long it might take to make enough
the versatile pattern. [Option: create a class Yo-Yo
Yo-Yos to complete a whole quilt. List the skills and
quilt]
talents needed to make it look balanced and
symmetric.
Estimated Time • Put your Yo-Yo pieces together and create a variety of
30 minutes to learn. 5 minutes per Yo-Yo piece. different patterns. Display or create a way to give
away the pieces.

Part 1
• View samples of Yo-Yo quilts (See FIGURE 14)
• Discuss the Yo-Yo quilt design and how the maker used Assessments
the simple Yo-Yo shape for an entire quilt top. How long Students should be able to articulate the time commit-
would it take to make a quilt like this? What do you like ment it took people to make quilts. Students should be
about this quilt? How do the colors contribute to the able to demonstrate an ability to make color and design
feelings you have about this quilt? What qualities do choices when they arrange and re-arrange the Yo-Yo
you think the maker of the quilt needed (color judg- pieces.
ment, time, perseverance, etc.)?
• Why do you think they called them Yo-Yos? (See
website: www.spintastics.com/HistoryOfYoYo.asp)
Answer: Because it looked like the toy Yo-Yo. In 1916,
Materials
• Scrap pieces of fabric (cotton or similar, easy-to-work
the Scientific American Supplement published an
fabric)
article titled “Filipino Toys” which showed it and named
• Circle templates (compass, or glass)
it a Yo-Yo. This was explained by some as the Filipino
• Cardboard, paper and pencil
word for “come-come” or “to return.”
• Scissors
• Thread, needles
Part Two
• Using any cotton fabric, trace around a circular object,
such as a cup, a small glass, or a cardboard template
made with a compass. Cut your circle with a diameter
twice your planned Yo-Yo size plus 1/4-inch seam
allowance. Experiment with several sizes to see what
you like, 3, 4 or 5-inch circles.
• Cut out the fabric circle with sharp scissors.
• Thread a needle with any color thread and make a
large knot.
• Holding the wrong side of the fabric facing you, turn
over approximately 1/4" seam allowance like a hem
and baste (a large running stitch) all around the circle.
• Once you have sewn the full circle, gently pull on the
end of the thread to gather the edges of the Yo-Yo
Alaska Content Standards
circle. In this activity students will focus on the following:
• Gather the edges until the center is just a small circular FINE ARTS
opening. A.3 Use new and traditional materials, tools, tech-
• Use your fingers to flatten the circle and finger press the niques, and processes
edges. A.4 Demonstrate the creativity and imagination
• Take 2-3 stitches at the center opening to hold the necessary for innovative thinking and problem
Yo-Yo center snugly in place. solving
• You have completed one Yo-Yo. Make many more! C.1 Know the criteria used to evaluate the
Note: Teachers may wish to read aloud one of the & C.2 arts, examine historical works of art, interpret
excellent books about quilts. meaning and artists’ intent
Vocabulary Other Resources
Running stitch — A hand-needlework technique where • History of the Yo-Yo —
the needle accumulates several stitches on it before www.spintastics.com/HistoryOfYoYo.asp
needle and thread are drawn through the cloth. The • Making an Eskimo Yo-Yo —
running stitch is used in both piecing and quilting. library.thinkquest.org/11313/Crafts/Yo-Yo.html

Yo-Yo — a novelty quilting technique in which circles of

o-Yo We highly recommend Quilts of Alaska: A Textile Album of
fabric are gathered into flat pouches and sewn together the Last Frontier for schools and teachers who plan to use
to make bedspreads or other items. The technique has the exhibit or materials from the exhibit in their classrooms.
roots in nineteenth-century handwork, but became very The catalog is extravagantly illustrated with full color
popular in the twentieth century. pictures of selected quilts and historic photographs. Five
chapters provide detailed information about quilting as it
applies to Alaska. A full index, appendix, bibliography and
endnotes make it a valuable resource for reference and
teaching. Ordering information: The Store at the Alaska
State Museum, 395 Whittier St., Juneau, Alaska 99801.
$
21.95 +$7 (postage /handling) per book.
Hall, June, Guest Curator. Quilts of Alaska: A Textile Album
of the Last Frontier. Gastineau Channel Historical Society,
2001 ISBN: 0-9704815-0-0

Visit the Alaska State Museum’s website — www.museums.state.ak.us