Button It Up: Creating Quilts with Buttons

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Here are some interesting bits of trivia for you: Did you know that November 16^th is National Button Day? And, did you know that there is a National Button Society? This organization was founded in 1938, and many state and local button clubs formed soon after. Their first button show was held in 1939 in Chicago. According to their website, the National Button Society has several thousand members from four continents who attend gatherings—like an annual convention and online events. Let’s talk about quilts with buttons.

Today, buttons are everywhere—but have you ever pondered about where and when the humble button began? The Indus Valley Civilization is credited with inventing the button over 4000 years ago. Early buttons were used as ornamental embellishments to attire and signified wealth or status. Buttons can be utilitarian, decorative, functional, collector items—or even works of art. Amazing, right?

To honor the next National Button Day, let’s dive into a few fun ways we can showcase buttons in our quilting projects:

Button Blocks in Quilts

Spruce up your sewing space with *Cute As A Button* pillows.

Diane Harris included button blocks in her *Sewful Things* quilt.

Appliquéd circles mimic buttons in Patti Carey’s *Covered Buttons* design.

You don’t have to be a button collector to celebrate buttons. Why not make a quilty project featuring button blocks? Choose a pattern with large button shapes or simply circles. Repeat the blocks, add other sewing-related blocks—like spools, or whip up a pillow with one large button block.

Button Embellished Quilts

Jo Moury’s *Posy* uses sweet buttons to adorn wool flowers.

Angela Huffman gave her kittys adorable button noses on *Fuzzy Love*.

Buttons come in many intriguing shapes and sizes—making them ideal embellishments for your projects. (But for safety’s sake, please leave them off quilts for babies and toddlers!) Smaller projects like pincushions or table runners are perfect places to play with buttons. Sew them onto appliqué pieces to create dimension and texture. Use them to represent flowers, tree ornaments, or animal eyes. And wouldn’t a button-adorned project make a charming addition to your sewing studio?

Scatter Buttons on Quilts

Sew buttons randomly over the surface of a quilt top after piecing and quilting. This works especially well on smaller projects, like mini quilts, where the buttons won’t interfere with the quilt’s function. Why not add an array of buttons to a border or arrange them along the binding to create a textural frame?

Covered Buttons

Olesya Lebedenko fussy-cut fabrics for the game pieces in her *Draughts* project.

Use covered button kits and fabric to customize them. This is also a fun way to create unique game pieces for a checkerboard quilt.

Button-Patterned Fabric

Use a button-themed fabric, like Timeless Treasure’s Button Wave Stripe from their Sewing Room collection.

If you love the look of buttons—but don’t want to sew them directly onto your quilt, seek out fabric prints with buttons. This gives you all the charm of buttons without the extra bulk.

National Button Day is the perfect time to appreciate buttons and show them off in both functional and decorative ways. Whether you are piecing a button-inspired quilt or enhancing a project, the possibilities are endless. So, isn’t it about time we button things up and let these small treasures shine?

What are some of your favorite ways to use buttons? Let me know in the comments!

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