Suffolk Puffs and Yo-Yo's

Snooze the Suffolk Wyvern (c) wyrm.org.uk

Prompted by this gorgeous Yo-Yo Pillow by Vicki at Turkey Feathers, I've been off on the trail of Suffolk Puffs - which is what I've always called these little circular puffballs of fabric. They've long been used to form panels for quilts and other furnishings - stitched edge-to-edge - or threaded together in long strings to make toys, like this one from Shop Intuition.

They're a great way to use up fabric scraps (a necessity in past hard times but more likely a 'need to shrink my stash' thing these days). Here's how (via quilterscache, via Vicki!).

Here's a cushion by Irish artist Mary Robinson and a selection of Suffolk Puff quilts from Australia's National Quilt Register.

I used to have a clown entirely made from Suffolk puffs - it seemed to me that no two were the same fabric, and I probably spent more time exploring the colours and patterns of the fabrics than actually playing with the doll (I've never liked clowns anyhow!).

Here are instructions for making Snooze the Suffolk Wyvern, via Wyrm's Cuddly Dragons page. (Snooze isn't a dragon, but a wyvern - a mythical creature with the wings and upper part of a dragon and the lower part of a snake.)

I feel a fad coming on...

See also:
McCalls: Free Pattern for A Yo-Yo Nines Quilt
eHow.com: How To Make A Yo-Yo Doll
eHow.com: How To Make Yo-Yo Wreath Ornaments