Clearly, in my case, the answer is NO. Before I discovered quilting, I was a voracious knitter. This has stayed with me. I quilt for my creative expression. I knit for my sanity.
As a knitter, I use lots of buttons. When I first moved to Australia 23 years ago, I was dismayed to find that buttons were horribly expensive and difficult to find if you wanted that special something for a sweater. Imagine my delight when I discovered Buttonmania!
Buttonmania is a shop in the wonderful Art Deco style Nicholas Building, in downtown Melbourne. Kate, the owner, is a button collector. She has collected for years and is now selling her buttons through her shop. You can get a taste on her website ->> www.buttonmania.com.au
However, my favourite, is when Kate opens up her “odd lot sales room” on the second and fourth Monday of the month.
This is when you can buy buttons by the kilo! Kate will give you a meat tray and you can choose from the bags and boxes of buttons picking the number and colour you want.
I now have a large stash of buttons to choose from when I knit and quilt. For example I have used buttons from Kate’s shop on my Enchanted Forest quilt.
Also available in Kate’s odd lot room are fabric scraps. If you are an art quilter, a crazy quilter or you just want to add a bit of velvet or satin to add to your quilt, visit Kate’s collection from her years of dressmaking! All her scraps are arranged in tubs by colour or fabric type (i.e. wool and sheers have their own tubs). Kate will give you a choice of a small or large plastic bag and you stuff in as much as you can for a very reasonable set price.
Have a look at a recent haul. This was all stuffed into one of her small plastic bags!
My Buttonmania fabric offcuts
This is truly a treasure trove!
Need some buttons for your next project? A visit to Buttonmania could be the answer…
UPDATE: Buttonmania have now moved to Highett. Check their website for details.
Buttonmania – they really have some great things going on.