Buttons
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 3:46PM
Remember this? The quilt top that took over and ended up being half as big again than I’d intended? It’s been sitting on my worktop since last November, quietly sending guilt waves over in my direction, asking “so now what?” Being with my expert quilter friend over the weekend was an excellent opportunity to find an answer which didn’t include squeezing it through my sewing machine.
Her answer? Button it. Her idea of placing a 5p sized button in each small square and a 20p sized one in the centre of each block sounded good to me. We spent a frustrating half hour mooching around the stands at the NEC in search of buttons and having calculated that I needed 48 of one size and 56 slightly larger, rejecting anything costing 40p each. Eventually we found something suitable and tested The Eternal Maker’s patience as we sifted through their lovely assortment of buttons to count out 56 of similar size and hue with just two holes. Sadly, we had to admit defeat when it came to the larger size.
Now I’m home, I can’t decide whether I prefer the button in the centre of the large block
Or the small square. Harder still to say because I planned to pinch another of her ideas and use thin ribbon to attach them…and that might just be orange.
I’m glad I chose the teal blue though, because the cream button disappears rather – not that there were any cream buttons to choose from at the show.
That could be that I seem to have the European Cream Button Mountain in my stash already ;-)
Reader Comments (3)
love it, can't wait to see how it looks done... a finished object... i would dearly love one of those, this sweater is creeping creeping in this petty pace etc.
Great quilt and what an excellent solution to your quilt problem! One thing though to keep in mind - if you want it to cuddle up with on the sofa make sure that the buttons are not too big, 20p sized sounds big for that purpose. Don't ask how I know - button patterns were the new body art here some years ago! One daughter not amused! If the quilt is a bed spread you can go as big and bold as you like.
I enjoyed your post on the book re-make very much as well as the cherry blossoms. Sadly I never got around to comment, sorry
Have a nice Easter!
A great idea. I love making the tops but dread the battle of the quilting! I would love to be an expert fee-motion quilter and fill a bedsized masterpeice with feathers and swirls but I would need to spend time in the gym working on my biceps! The ribbon sounds lovely - might I suggest the teeniest dab of fabric glue on the first 'tie' as I have found ribbon likes to spring undone!