When I was 11, my maternal grandmother made a small, thin, cardboard circle template and showed me how to make yo-yos. Then, for my 12th birthday, she gave me a yo-yo quilt top that she made when she was 12. I was beyond thrilled with it. I used it on top of my chest of drawers, where I could see it every day.

Unfortunately, on December 10, 1977, when I was 13, my family’s house burned down and I lost her quilt top forever. I was devastated! I prized that open cloth of joined, gathered up circles more than anything I owned. And it was gone.

I never lost that template. It was still at my grandmother’s house.

I used it to start making yo-yos last year (2025). Then I started designing a quilt using the yo-yos, but sewing in a hexagon style of pattern than sewing it in the grid she had used.

I started making yo-yos. And made yo-yos. And counted them only to make more. Almost 600 yo-yos in total.

Then, I added a white, 4-hole, shirt button in the center of each yo-yo. I wanted to add something to make a simple yo-yo quilt something special. Besides, I have a massive collection of these buttons, and they need to be used for something.

There is a light directly above the quilt, and the buttons sparkle as you walk by. I love this so much, and I know that my grandmother would have been thrilled with it. She’s been gone since 2011, but I wish I could have made this when she could have enjoyed what I made from her little cardboard template that she made for me.