It seems like I missed a few cool items while at Market …one of the “Hot” items being demonstrated was Clover’s new Yo-Yo maker. I am sorry I missed the demos, I guess I was too busy watching the wool felting tool demo at Clover…more about that later…

Joan, from Lazy Girl Designs, talked about it on her blog as did my new friend at PamKittyMorning. So I had to share…

Here is Joan talking about the new Yo-Yo maker.

Yo-Yo Maker Magic

“I stopped and watched the demonstrations for all the new Clover notions and my favorite is the Yo-Yo maker. Now, you might be surprised to hear this, but I like handwork. I always have. So, I had to give this a try. I sat down and made a wonderful little yo-yo. It was perfect with no fuss. How did Clover know I needed help with my yo-yo’s?
The Clover yo-yo maker is similar to a little tiny quilt hoop to hold your circle of fabric. The two sizes are shown above. The inside of the hoop is a disc; the outside is similar to a tray.

Snap your fabric circle into the yo-yo maker, and then you do a running stitch around the edge using the stitching guides.
The stitch guides look like little crescents along the edge. Go in through the beginning, and out at the end of a crescent to make a stitch. It’s just that easy!

Afterwards, pop that little cutie out of the hoop by pushing through the hole in the middle, pull the threads to gather the circle, and tie a knot. I loved it. I could have sat there for a while making yo-yo’s, but there was a crowd of people, at least three people deep, waiting for their turn, so I had to move on.

Clover had a few samples that used yo-yos and they were just too cute. One sample used a cascade of yo-yos as a surface embellishment. Oh the fun. I wanted to come home and play with it right away.”

Thanks Joan for the news on the yo-yo maker. Read her entire post here.

Lazy Girl's New Book

I got a chance to hang out with Joan while at Market; I attended a school house lecture series with Joan Hawley, of “Lazy Girl Designs”. She is certainly one “Lazy Girl” out there who, it seems, is anything but!

Joan, the owner and creator of “Lazy Girl Designs”, has an approach to quilting and sewing is fun and casual. “If it's not fun, don't do it!” is her slogan. She offers a full line of purse patterns, bag bottoms, books and rulers. And her product line keeps expanding.

At her lecture, she was showcasing a new book which was hot off the presses. The book,” Bold Bags” by Leisure Arts features bag patterns made with faux leather and mock crocodile purse products.

Faux Fun

She handed out her samples of the purses and bags made with the faux crocodile and leather and also gave out samples of the faux product. (It is not everyday you can say you “fondled some faux”.)

The surprisingly soft and pliable faux product is available  in 8 ½ “x 11” sheet for about $4 and has coordinating faux handles to match.

Joan’s book will be hitting shops in the next few weeks and faux materials are available through Leisure Art’s “Exclusively You” line of products. (Available at quilt, fabric and craft stores.)

    

Joan’s bags were made with a combination of the faux product and quilting fabric and stitched on a regular sewing machine using a quilting needle.

They were quite stunning and contemporary.

Joan also started a forum called the Lazy Girl forum, where customers can ask questions, comments or post photos of projects to share.

“I love that my customers take the time to tell me how much they enjoy my designs, or share their thoughts. I started the forum so I could offer a place to address questions all at once and where members, or Lazies, as we call ourselves, can share all of this good stuff with each other. We host challenges throughout the year as well. We've grown to close to 3,000 members in just under two years.

Click here to see Lazy Girl Designs pattern lineup.

(Photos thanks to Lazy Girl Designs.)