I love buttons, especially old white ones made of mother of pearl.
The tribes of the Northwest coast made (and still make) button blankets with black and red wool and white buttons. The images and color combinations are bold.
This was made by a member of the Haida tribe in 1900.
In quilts I have only used buttons for eyes. This man, woman and dog were part of my first quilt which I made in a class with Sandy Bonsib. She taught us many traditional patterns, as well as how to design and piece our own imagery, such as this man, woman and dog.
Someday I would like to use LOTS of buttons on a quilt. As inspiration I will look at the Pearly Queens and Kings of England “wiv buttons galore”.
Mooshka 
I love buttons too! Somewhere in the basement I have a teddy bear wearing a pearly king outfit.
Who knew there were Pearly Bears!
GREAT!
The first image is one that you sent me – thanks!
very interesting! I knew there must be a reason I kept my grandmother’s button box & continue to collect the extra buttons that come with new clothes these days. Thanks! Cathy Bonnell
The old buttons are the best…and someday all those new buttons will be the old ones.
can’t wait to see your button quilt
Love your blogging. I just heard a lecture by artist Margaret Davidson titled Breathless Delight in the Ordinary and she talked about her passion/obsession with drawing buttons in super detail. You might enjoy her work. It made me think about the things I love and hoard, like buttons, weird paper, metal tins. xo
I had seen Davidson’s button drawings in a show at the Edison Eye, but I couldn’t remember her name. I really like them. Thanks for mentioning her!