Besides being a quilter, for the last couple years I’ve been seriously into buttons. Not the antique kind that you mount on cards and keep in a collection, but cute and colorful buttons that I use to make notecards, magnets, flowers, and whatever else I can think of.

Okay so sometimes it’s the little things in life… truth be told it’s a whole lot of fun to sit down and sort a newly acquired batch of buttons to see what you’ve got.

Sometimes there are some head-scratchers.

When you think of a button, usually it’s gonna have two holes or four holes, for sewing through to attach to a garment. Right? Well I’ve come across some pretty peculiar buttons in the way of holes, and have been tossing them in a box for further contemplation.

Let us begin.

no-holes

That’s right, zero holes. All I can say is, hmmmm…. trying to think how can be attached…

one-hole

Here we have the one-hole button. Especially fascinating is the one-hole off-center specimen. Again, how can the attachment occur?

two-holes

Now we’re getting closer to a conventional button, but these buttonholes don’t seem to like one another.

caffeine

No more Starbucks for you.

three-holes

I can kind-of see how these might be attached, but it seems a bit of trouble.

puppies

Three holes off-center. These have got me stumped.

row

Four holes lined up like ducks in a row. That’s a hard shirt to button.

five-holes

The purple one says, I make an M… cool right? So green… what’s your story.

tiny-holes

Hope you weren’t planning on using button thread for these.

square

triangular

oblong

flower

Round is so boring.

quality-control

We love you just the way you are.

different

Wild child!

eight-holes

And last, my absolute favorite. Spoiled for choice of holes! Eight, count ’em, eight! Pick two, pick four, or sew through all of them if you truly enjoy attaching buttons. It’s a button-sewer’s paradise.

I enjoy my little collection of oddball buttons. And please, if you know the reasoning behind the various configurations of holes, enlighten us!

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

This Sunday, I’m making my first foray into the world of the street fair!

indie

Up until now I’ve resisted outdoor events, because I’m a very pale individual and have about zero tolerance for the sun before I fry like an egg. I also didn’t want to get into canopies with sandbags or umbrellas with 50 lb. bases. Oy vey! However, I found a nifty, small, lightweight item called a clamp-on umbrella, which I can attach to my chair and provide myself a little oasis of shade. So off I go to the streets with my little umbrella and lots of sunscreen.

Morgan Hill is a wonderful community that’s east of Santa Cruz and south of San Jose. In the summertime they have an downtown event on the fourth Sunday of the month called Indie Market. I’m bringing all of the stuff I’ve been making with buttons the last couple years. Magnet sets, notecards, flowers, gift tags, plus framed mini-quilts and a few other handmade goodies.

indie-button-card
indie-items

If you live in the area, I hope you’ll drop by the event. There should be lots of interesting stuff, all made by home-based artisans.

Cheers,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop

I’ve been enjoying the ‘black and white and red all over’ color scheme a lot lately. It’s the first thing I thought of when I started developing my new chicken pattern.

You may think of white chickens, or Rhode Island Reds, but I was inspired by a short story I once read about “Dominikers” or black-and-white Dominique chickens.

dominique

cluck-front-cover

Here’s my new pattern, Cluck & Co. Four fancy chicks are stepping out in style!

I used raw-edge fusible machine appliqué for my version. For a refresher on that method, here’s a link to my Raw-Edge Fusible Demo. Of course you can always use your own method if you favor another one. It’s all good!

Another trick that I pulled out of the bag for this one was the double-layer strategy for the heads, to avoid shadow-through when putting light over dark. Just fuse two layers of light fabric together, then use this composed fabric just like the others in your project.

Hope you are enjoying your summer! I have a couple months off from shows and have been knee-deep in foster kittens!

abby-avery

Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Kay’s Etsy Shop