How to play
Each player has an empty 9 × 9 quilt and 5 buttons. 33 patches sit in a ring, and the three just after the needle are on offer. Whoever is behind on the time track takes the next turn (if you’re level, whoever got there last goes first), so a cheap, quick patch can mean two turns in a row.
On your turn, do one of these:
- Buy a patch: pay its buttons, sew it anywhere it fits on your quilt (turn or flip it as you like), and move your time marker on by its time. The needle moves to where that patch was.
- Step ahead: move your marker to the space just past your rival’s, and take a button for each space you moved.
Marks on the track
- Button marks (9 of them): each time you pass one, take a button for every button picture sewn into your quilt.
- Scrap marks (5): the first player past one sews a free one-square scrap anywhere on their quilt, straight away.
Scoring
The game ends when both markers reach space 53. Score your buttons, plus 7 if you were first to fill a whole 7 × 7 square, minus 2 for each empty square on your quilt. The higher score wins.
Tips
Button pictures pay at every mark still ahead of you, so they’re worth most early on. Leave single empty squares only where a scrap could go, and keep the edges and corners filled first. Stepping ahead isn’t wasted time: it pays a button a space and can leave your rival a poor choice.