Learning to Upholster

In my quest to acquire the skills to build a couch I need to learn something about how to upholster furniture.  Last week I made a couple foot stools to work on.  The old Bernina sewing machine is up to the task of sewing the heavy fabrics.  I'm getting more comfortable working with the upholstery fabrics.  I had assumed that I would be using a random patchwork style of upholstery but as I went to work on these foot stools I found myself doing patchwork that reflects the shape of the base of the stools. I liked what was happening and went with it.

Of course I will use a lot of buttons on my upholstery.  I love to make buttons and I can use these projects as a marketing tool for my Etsy button shop.  In these photos the buttons are not yet attached.  I'm still playing with where and how to position them.

I also need to figure out how to finish the cushions.  Should they be permanently attached to the base with upholstery tacks?  Should they be finished as pillows and attached to the base with Velcro?  As a learning experience I may do one cushion with each technique and then see what I think about the results.

My cat is not waiting for me to finish.