Hello all, Mary Ellen here.

Like many of us, I have WAAAAYYY too much sewing stuff in my craft room. I have become the repository curator for many of my friends who get sewing or crafting things given to them by friends and family. Yesterday I was attempting to reorganize some shelves to make room for more stuff (why don’t I just get rid of some of it? Oh no! I might be able to use it some day!) and decided that I need to come up with some projects to use buttons. I’m talking lots of buttons. You know those boxes that are made for storing 4 x 6 photos, slightly larger than a shoe box? Well I have about 8 of those of buttons. One is full of white/cream buttons, another dark buttons, another metallic buttons, etc. So today when I got an e-mail from Fave Crafts about button crafts I went exploring almost all of the links. I’ll share here some of my favorite finds.

Just love this Easter Egg one- I think this will be my first try. I have enough buttons to make several in different colors. I think this would be a good kid craft too! Click here.

Dorset buttons. Know what those are? If you grew up with knitters and crocheters around, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen these. I just didn’t know their name. Actually these don’t use buttons, they use those small plastic rings that used to be sewn to the top of cafe curtains to go let them slide along the rod easily. (Of course I have quite a few of those too-not like my buttons though. Maybe only 20 or 25 of them!) Click here.

This wreath idea is billed as a holiday wreath. I think it could be an “anytime” wreath. Changing up the fabrics behind the buttons would easily make this a cute spring or summertime patio decoration. Those free form circles would be good places to practice free motion quilting on things that are supposed to look irregular and wonky. Check it out here.

Hey guild members, what would you think of classes on these ideas, or ideas like these, as part of our Saturday seminar series? We did get a few requests for non-quilting classes.

Well I’m heading back to the sewing machine to finish up a birthday banner made from a panel I bought at Pine Grove. Anybody else missing those shops, either or both of the incarnations?

TTFN