Buttons

When I was a little girl and my mom wanted to keep me occupied, she would pour out her button jar onto the bed and have me find certain ones. My favorite button to hunt for was the apple button. I happily would dig through all those buttons, letting them run like sand through my little fingers, until I found the apple, then I'd hide it in the pile and start all over again. That jar was one of the best "toys" ever!

Amazingly when she passed, that button jar was still part of her sewing things and I was happy to give it a place among my own. Once again I poured out the buttons and hunted for the apple...it was still there!

Isn't it funny how so many memories can be found in a simple little jar?

Buttons weren't just a tie between my mom and I. My dad often told stories of his first job as a teenager working in a button factory where the buttons were made of bone. They really did make use out of everything back then, huh?

So it seems to me, in remembering my family ties to buttons, a bit ironic that I have become a button maker myself....clay, polyclay, and plastic. Each one individually handmade and unique.

Of course, I had to make some apple ones...

I will be selling these, my hand dyed fabrics and more at the upcoming Forsyth Piecers and Quilters show March 16-18 at the Village Inn and Conference Center in Clemmons, as well as on ETSY, just as soon as I get my shop set up. 

I think Mom and Dad would get a kick out of me being a button maker! What's the old saying...?  "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"....

:)