I saw a demonstation once on Simply Quilts where the lady took tiny scraps and laid them on a fabric and then overlaid a netting over that and quilted it down. It was an interesting idea. Then she used that to put in a quilt treating it like a piece of cloth.
Here is a link to some of the stuff I have made with my confusion technique which is somewhat the same as the crumb technique. I like to do a few other things with the technique such as cut off a section sew in a piece lengthwise and readd the cut off piece. It makes it appear that the lengthwise piece is laying ontop of the underneath joined confusion. There are lots of things you can do with crazy quilting and crumbs in particular. I think the artistic appeal far outweights the cost of thread.
My Confusion directions and pictures of some of the things I made with it.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-30920-1.htm
The crazy quilt hearts are down in the middle. Sorry you can't see the little ones as well as I would like but you get the idea. The confusion ones are in the bottom under the others.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-35281-1.htm
I had a lady save her tiny scraps from a 30's quilt she made. I stripped together 3/4" strips and made her a checkbook cover and a coin purse and keychain from it all. Those tiny scraps have meaning for miniaturists! They would be great for anyone who makes Doll Quilts for Doll Houses.