2021
34" x 15"
This is the first quilt completed in my year of attempting to make quilts with non-traditional materials. I started with buttons as my overflowing button jar needed attention. After using about 650 buttons, I bet you can guess: the jar is still overflowing....but I have an unusual quilt completed.
Because of the weight of the buttons, I kept the design small and fused stiff interfacing to the back of the quilt top. A layer of batting and the quilt top were then quilted pre-button attachment. The buttons were attached using my sewing machine before adding the backing, as I didn’t want messy zig zags to show on the backing. I “quilted” the three layers together using several unobtrusive tacks that matched the backing and quilt top in color.
I tried to stay away from novelty buttons, but a few crept in: a ladybug, a rabbit, a fish, several flowers, hearts, and anchors, and a weird button-face. There’s also a gold disk with my name etched on it with my mother’s hand-writing ; it’s not quite a button, maybe a pool locker token? The big wooden button was homemade by my sister-in-law Heather's dad several decades ago. Both tokens serve as remembrances of beloved people.
Original design. Machine pieced, buttons are machine appliqued.
