Buttoned Up

I've never been a particular fan of buttons. No, scratch that. I've never paid much attention to buttons. They were always just things you put on a shirt - usually plain white and very unremarkable. But then some time last year while in a yarn shop I found some buttons in the most gorgeous shade of pinky-purple. So I bought a few. Just because. Then I got several packs of buttons as free gifts with craft magazines.  Then I saw a blog entry about a shop in Cardiff (that's where I live) called Claire Grove Buttons. So I paid it a visit and was smitten by the incredible array of decorative buttons on display. And I bought a few. Just because they were so pretty. And so on, and so on gradually building up a nice little collection.  My latest button acquisition (pictured second) is from Berry Nice Cushions on Folksy.  I didn't mean to buy any. I was just enjoying having a look. But then they were so cute, and the price was so reasonable, and I succumbed to temptation.

The thing is, now that I've developed a button habit I'm not entirely sure what to do with them! I've used a few in my crochet flower hair clips and bookmarks, and although I've got loads more plain clips to use up (so loads more crochet flower/button combo opportunities) it would be nice to try using them in some other way.  I've had a quick look on Pinterest and have seen some lovely ideas, but I'm on the lookout for more. That way I can use up my button stash and also have an excuse to give in to my newest vice ;). So if you've come across any beautiful button crafts please point me to them.

TAST 53 - Square Herringbone

I was inspired by the concentric square herringbones that I saw on Annet's blog.  I decided to offset the orientation of my squares while keeping them concentric to get a sort of twisting effect.

Go to Pin Tangle for a description of how to work the stitch.

Scrappy Trips Cushion

I'm not much of a trend follower, but when I do decide to join in I generally don't do it in a timely manner!  And so it was with the Scrappy Trips Around The World.  It all began several months ago when one of the blogs that I follow mentioned a craze that was sweeping Instagram - #scrappytripalong. I was intrigued so I had a look and thought it was interesting, but not being a quilter that's as far as it went.

In the meantime I had bought several cushion pads that were going cheap from IKEA, which I then left piled in a corner.  About a month ago I decided it was about time I made some cushion covers for them and the scrappy-trip-along came to mind. It looked so simple and the result looked very pretty so I dived in with gusto. But I soon learned a valuable lesson about precision! Measure accurately, cut accurately and sew accurately, otherwise none of the blocks will line up.  After a lot of unpicking, remeasuring and resewing, my scrappy-trip-along cushion was complete.

And so, ta-dah! I really love it. So much, that I can't bring myself to let it be used as an actual cushion, so it sits on the sofa but doesn't get leant on :)