Something for you to consider. When my girls are here we pile up together in one of the bedrooms to laugh/talk. Some of us on the chairs, some on the bed. I had a quilt with buttons sewn on it and we found out very quickly how uncomfortable it was to lie on that quilt. I also liked to lie on the quilt to read. Needless to say, that quilt is folded up and put away until I can get to putting applique over the centers of the Dresden plates.

After

After. Whether you longarm or quilt on your regular machine, the buttons will be in your way.

Definitely after.

Thanks everyone! AFTER...it is.

I would do it after :lol:

No, not always...and not even always with buttons.

This is one of those "it depends" questions. Depends on:
the location of the buttons
the size and shape of the buttons
the composition of the buttons (metal, wood, bone, shell, plastic, etc)
how the buttons are attached
the quilters skill level
the quilting pattern
the time the quilter is willing to spend
and so on and so forth.

AFTER

When you are finished could you please show pictures? Would love to see them.

I always embellish last, but I also use buttons as a form of quilting, like tie tacking.

On my t-shirt quilts, I do either FMQ or straight line quilting, depending on the size of the quilt. I don't stitch on the shirts, just the sashing and borders. I then go through and add matching buttons on the t-shirts themselves. It adds stability to the quilt, especially if the t shirt pieces are 12".