A Spring Wreath

I haven't gotten out the spring decorations or the spring books--it's just still very much winter, and focusing on bunnies and birds would either be disorienting or depressing (though I have heard the chickadees singing their "fee-bee" song the last few mornings for the first time, so maybe there's hope).

I did create and hang up a new spring wreath on our front door, though.  I loved the fabric wreath I made for Christmas so much I left it up all winter, and wanted to make another for spring.  I was stressing out about what to use for a wreath form, though.  I refuse to buy a styrofoam one, or one of those green ones (which have Prop 65 labeling, meaning they are made with something carcinogenic or toxic to reproduction...I don't want a wreath that bad).  I made the Christmas one with a straw wreath form, but even that was wrapped in plastic wrap, and it was kind of heavy, so it clunked every time the door opened and closed.

Then I saw Heather's great yo-yo Valentine's wreath and was inspired.  I've always loved old yo-yo quilts, but they seem like way too much work.  But a yo-yo wreath, I could handle that.  I started it back in January, and worked on it a little at a time.  

Yo-yos are very easy to make.  First, you draw a circle about double the diameter of your desired finished yo-yo:

A yogurt tub works great for this.

Then, fold under the edge about 1/4 inch and hand-sew a running stitch all the way around.

Pull the thread tight to gather.

And poof, you have a yo-yo.  Once you get started, you might find them addicting. 

 Instead of a cardboard form, like Heather used, I wanted something that would look good from the back too (since I would be hanging it in front of a window) and that would be durable over the years, so I stitched a little fabric sleeve around a wire wreath form, scavenged from a Christmas wreath from years' past.  I sewed a button in the center of each yo-yo and stitched them to the wreath form.

The bird I had made a couple of Easters ago, from the same fabric--my very favorite ever Kaffe Fasset print (sadly discontinued) that includes all of my favorite colors.  The wreath has been a bright, cheerful, quiet addition to our front door.  It gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, Spring is not a mythical land, but a real place we might get to visit some day.