Welcome to the Modern Plus Sign Quilts Book Blog Hop
I’ve always had a fascination with buttons. When I was young, I remember sorting my mama’s button box into piles of colors and then using a needle and thread to string them into long strings. I’m sure my mama did it to keep me busy. Little did she know it would lead me to collecting buttons. You’ll find the buttons pictured below residing inside blue vintage Ball jars on a shelf above my window in my sewing room in my summer house.
Paige and Cheryl asked me to pick a pattern from their new book, Modern Plus Sign Quilts.
I couldn’t help but take the one titled Cute as a Button.
Photo courtesy of C&T Publications
The Idea
I need pillows on my couch in my living room. My idea was to use these plus signs and lay them on their side to make them resemble how I sew on four hole buttons.
So I sewed 9 blocks into a pillow,
I spray basted the 100% cotton batting to the muslin backing and to the top.
quilted it,
I quilted straight lines about 1/2″ on each side of all the seam lines, 1/2″ inside each of the circles, and four lines of straight stitching in both directions of the plus.
I couldn’t resist playing a bit of tic, tac, toe before I finished quilting all the circles and pluses.
and finished it off with an envelope style back.
I buttoned up this project by appliquéing three small buttons on one side of the back.
I printed the pattern from the book at 40% to give me a button that was close to 2 inches in diameter. It was perfect. Thanks Chery and Paige for letting me be part of your blog hop.
Isn’t it just Cute as a Button?
Order your book here:
For autographed books order directly from one of the authors:
Join the Fun Here This Week
Monday, March 19th
Faceted Rings
Jessica @ Quilty Habit
Cindy @ Hyacinth Quilt Designs
Jennifer @ The Inquiring Quilter
Petal Plus
Julie @ The Crafty Quilter
Tuesday, March 20th
Message in a Bottle
Tish @ Tish N Wonderland
Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
Cute as a Button
Wanda @ Wanda’s Life Sampler
Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good
Wednesday, March 21st
Celestial
Anja @ Anja Quilts
Kate @ Smiles from Kate
Sue @ Sevenoaks Street Quilts
Pinwheel Plus
Carole @ From My Carolina Home
Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts
Thursday, March 22nd
Intertwined
Debbie @ Esch House Quilts
Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts
Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts
Bear Claw Plus
Janice @ Color Creating and Quilting
Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne
Friday, March 23rd
Paige @ Quilted Blooms
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Cheryl and Paige have giveaways going on all week. You’ll want to check them out.
And if you missed last week, see my post here for direct links to creative takes on projects posted last week from this book.
If you are looking for my UFO project for Quilt Qwazy Queens post, click here to see my progress on the elephant quilt.
What I Learned Today:
- No one seems to know who started the phrase “Cute as a button” but it sure sounds better than “cute as a bug’s ear.”
- Buttons have been around for thousands of years decorating clothing but it wasn’t until the invention of the button hole that people started using them to keep their pants up or blouses shut.
- Buttons can make a fashion statement. I think my pillow does, too.
- I must be a better sewer than I thought. I did not match up the zigs or zags on this pillow. I originally was going to switch the directions of every other one so I wouldn’t have to worry about matching but then decided it looked too busy. Imagine my surprise when I saw how well the seams matched when I laid them out!
- We’re going to have a large crop of oranges next winter; the orange tree is loaded with blooms.
Question: What do you collect? Besides buttons, I collect cookie cutters. But Tu-Na Helper says that I collect fabric and quilt books. He might be right.
Thanks for stopping by and do come again. If you enjoyed reading and would like to be notified when I post again, please consider following me using email, WordPress, or Bloglovin, buttons are on the sidebar.
Karen, Tu-Na Quilts
Linking to:
Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Wait Loss Wednesday at The Inquiring Quilter
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilt
TGIFF at Sarah Goer Quilts
Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats 
Love it, a super cushion cover, and great colours.
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I really like what you did with this design, the back of the cushion is just as fun as the front too. x
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Fabulous pillow and the buttons on the back are the cherry on top! Quilting books and fabric, I definitely collect those! I try not to collect anything that isn’t “useful” but still, things can really accumulate!
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The pillow really is cute as a button! Love the color scheme on this, it’s perfect.
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Love your take on this Karen! The buttons on the back are a great finishing touch! I’m definitely a fabric collector!,
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Karen, I love what you have done with Cute as a Button! And I didn’t even think to research the origin of the phrase! And the little ‘buttons’ on the back are adorable! Thank you for joining the book hop!
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Karen, what a great way to adapt the pattern. The buttons look great, especially the back buttons. This pillow is cute as a button.
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This pillow is cute as a button! What a great way to use the pattern to add some fun to your living room. What do I collect? I’m beginning to think I collect half finished quilt projects 🙂
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Great pillow. And I love the button collection story.
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This is such a cute and clever pillow! The yellow and grays together are such a fun combination. I think your tic-tac-toe was a fun addition. I used to collect snowmen. My mom would give me one each Christmas.
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Delightful post and very clever pillow! It’s a wonderful day at the hop!
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Love your tic tac toe pillow, PLUS, nice touch on the back! The “Things I learned” part made me laugh and think. Thanks! I only collect quilt related items nowadays. But from my past I have a Dala horse collection (all hand carved by my dad) and a Kokeshi doll collection.
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I LOVE that you put small buttons on the back!!!!! How funny and clever and totally you! I also giggled when I saw you played tic-tac-toe- as you were working on it. You are so fun! Lovely cushion!
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l love your pillow and how you rotated the applique pattern to look more like a sewn on button. The tiny buttons on the back are adorable too! Thanks so much for being part of the hop!!
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Oh I do so love your jars of buttons! I used to have a jar of buttons years ago when I made clothing mainly for the kids but no longer have them. I like your X’s they give me ideas for the living room – but you know I have enough ideas and not enough life time left to use them all LOL
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Wow Karen. I can’t believe how many buttons you have. This pillow is cute as a button and I really appreciate seeing the closeups of all the little details you included like the smaller buttons on the back and the tick tack toe quilting. How wonderful. I don’t think I would have thought to do that.
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Such a creative interpretation! Love the tic tac toe idea in the quilting!
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Very cute and so appropriate with your button collection. Great job matching the zig-zags!
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I love it as a pillow!
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You are clever! I love your button pillow and it is…cute as a button! The tic tac toe special touch is just too good! I don’t really collect anything…is that bad?!
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What a fabulous pillow! It looks great on your couch, and I really like the way you turned the buttons to look like a cross stitch.
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Thank you so much for sharing how you did this adorable pillow. It looks great on the couch.
I collect Halloween items: candle holders, salt and pepper shakers, cake plates. One entire shelving unit in the dining room is devoted to my Halloween collection. I also collect dragon candle holders. And cat tea pots. 🙂
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Those 3 appliuqéd buttons on the back are just the best! Love how you turned them a quarter turn to mimic how you sew on a button.
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How adorable your pillow is! The back is just as cute as the front. I loved reading your “lessons learned”, too.
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I love your pillow and the back really won me over! Thanks too for sharing a bit about buttons. I really enjoyed my visit. Happy stitching!
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Loved how you thought to photo the tic-tac-toe design, along with adding the design to the back of your pillow. This pillow looks so cute on your couch. I’m sure you will enjoy it.
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What a great interpretation of this design. Turning it a quarter turn to look like button sewing was genius! Cute pillow Karen!
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Your pillow is adorable and I love how it ties in with your button collection. Your orange tree looks fantastic, too.
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Wow that is so cute, I just LOVE the idea of making it really look like the sewn on buttons!
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That pillow is so cute! I don’t know of anything that I collect other than needlework supplies.
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Cute as a Button! I love the pillow….the tic tac toe made me smile….you are so clever and real! I also have buttons in mason jars, old tins and display them in my sewing room! I collect fabric, buttons and notions.
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Oh cuteness, it makes a great cushion, and I so love the buttons on the back, they could be incorporated into a so sophisticated front with lots of negative space too, very clever Karen, love it.
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That made a really nice pillow – looks like it could have been printed on the fabric!
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We won’t even talk about all the buttons I have–it filled a dresser drawer until I moved them into a large tote. But, I love and use them and they make me happy.
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I do love the phrase “As cute as a Button”. Don’t intentionally collect buttons but have a huge assortment….when they go on clearance at the fabric store, I can’t help but grab them. Your pillow is so great. Thank you for telling us how much you reduced the pattern. And I love the addition of the buttons to the back. What a great finish!
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Love your pillow, it is indeed cute as a button. I have been following this hop since the beginning and I really must order this book.
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I do like your pillow, and the addition of the little buttons on the back closure are wonderful whimsy. This is an outstanding example of this pattern, I think, and the tic-tac-toe was a cute plan, too.
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Oh Karen, this pillow is so cute! I love that you tilted the pluses on their sides to better resemble buttons. And the back is a cute as the front! Great job!
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Love your cushion and your blog post.
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My Mom always had a big tin of buttons, spent hours sorting & matching! Love your pillow – the colors are great! Thank you, Susan
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I love your pillow! The colors are really great and the pillow is so cute. Love your version!
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super cute interpretation of the pattern! everything is cute when made smaller for some reason. Karen, you have tons of buttons. Do you sort through them and use them or just admire them? About the only thing I collect is dishes – like full sets of dishes. I love changing out the table settings. It is bulky tho and my cabinets are filled. Sometimes I think I should get rid of a set or two so I would have room for a new color or pattern. 🙂
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Hi Karen. This is my first visit to your blog and I’ll be back. I read your intro first and LOVE that your grandson calls you Tu-Na! Your pillow is lovely. I must admit I went back and forth a few times trying to figure out how your quilting description worked with the backside photo till I finally read you were playing tic-tac-toe with the photo! Because you collect buttons I must ask if you’ve ever been to the Warther Museum in Dover, Ohio? I went as a child and will never forget an entire house full of buttons! I just Googled it and it’s still open and the 73,000 buttons are still on display. I collect old children’s books…and fabric!
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love your cushions, I really should make more cushions rather than more quilts! I always wondered if the cute as a button came from button nose. You know, where we tap a baby’s nose and say you are as cute as a button?
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What a fun project! It’s a perfect accent for your chair.
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Sew cute!
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Pretty and clever projects, love the idea of turning plusses into buttons!
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So clever! Who knew there were four-hole buttons hiding in this pattern? Well done!
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Great project!
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Brilliant version of Cute as a Button! I love not only that you made this design into a pillow, but that you turned the pluses to look like x’s to mimic the stitching of buttons – so good! As much as I love the front – I really love your clever use of the applique on the back closure. Fabulous!
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Your piece is “cute as a button”! Love your fabric choices! I sort of collect buttons (I try to control myself) and I love looking through my button jar!
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Thanks so much for sharing this pillow on Wednesday Wait Loss. It’s so pretty!
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What a fantastic use for this pattern – it’s a wonderful cushion. I especially love the detail you have put on the back – they quite often get overlooked!!
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Definitely cute as button!
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I love your spin on the pattern. Grey and yellow is a great combination and your tic tac toe pic is fabulous! 😉 It is a lovely addition to your couch. Thank you for linking up to TGIFF. As for what I collect… I think it’s mainly fabric and thread these days. 😉
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Nice pillow! That worked perfectly to put the +’s on-point for buttons. The colors look awesome with the chair in the background, too.
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Great idea with turning the pluses in buttons! Sweet pillow, perfect for your chair.
-Soma
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