Last night I tried sewing together a couple of Crumb Blocks.

After putting on 4 pieces on each, I stopped because I thought 1. it wouldn't look right. 2. it was ugly 3. didn't want to waste time (although I had time...just relaxing)

Did you have similar feelings when you FIRST made your FIRST blocks of Crumbs?

Should I keep trying?

How many blocks does it take in order to feel like "Hey I'm making something neat!"

Thanks

Well, I don't really know. I sew scraps together into crazy scrap blocks or strips and use them as borders or baby quilts. I guess I like them from the beginning because I am just trying to control scraps that I can't bear to throw away!

WOW that was fast POLLY - thanks - maybe I need to think along those lines - or maybe not think at all?

I think of myself as making new "fabric". It's amazing how much new "fabric" you can get from crumbs!

I like to make them when I want "mindless" sewing...something I don't have to think about or concentrate to do.

I have to be in that mindset, though, or else I'm thinking about everything else I "should" be doing instead of making crumb blocks.

I've made blocks but have yet to join them together into anything. It is more like one of those "on-going" projects...kinda like string blocks. I make them when my scrap bins start getting too full.

I really like making crumb blocks - I have tons (yards?) of scraps and just want to use all the fabric I have purchased to the last thread... I just sew on them from time to time knowing that one day I will have enough to one day make a whole quilt. I do the same thing with scrap strips - I will call it Scraps of Life.

I've got about 60, 6 inch crumb blocks sitting and waiting to be beautiful. I'm....um....not in love with them right now. I think they need some more order or something. Something. So, they sit in a stack until I'm inspired. It's my first attempt, but the scraps were getting out of control!

Sounds like you're getting a handle on those scraps. Wish I could do the same! :)

please explain "crumb " blocks..thanks, molly

Ditto
I'm more likely though to make fabric for Mile a Minute than for Crumbs - probably because it's more familiar to me .

I have a different take on crumb blocks!
here are some pics of what I have made and some blocks in progress.
I look at these as free quilts- made from garbage that I would have thrown away!
I sew my crumbs together by color, forming new pieces of fabric that is yellow,blue,green,pink,red purple etc
then I cut them in to triangles and use abackground fabric to make HST units.
here are some pics of my units the black ones are 2 1/2" and the white ones are 3 1/4"
and also a pic of a queen size quilt top waiting to be quilted
hope this helps for the overall effect
These are not UGLY quilts!

gollytwo, is mileaminute in quilting also or are you speaking of crochet" i sure miss crochet..thanks, molly

Ok guys. I feel dumb. Please explain to me what a crumb block is.

Oh forgot to mention,
I also am cutting these in tumbler shapes and alternating with the black kona
you can also do apple core etc
don't be limited by the square shape!

mlaceruby, no, thier not ugly, thats a beautiful quilt top. thanks for explaining. molly

crumbs are just sewing all you small scraps together to form
a block or piece of fabric.

Yup, I do, but I keep going. By the time each block is made and sewn into a quilt, the ONE I didn't like can't be found.

Can you explain the difference between crumb and mile-a-minute? I always thought they were the same thing, just a different name. :?:

I like the idea of making HST's with them. I've only seen them wish sashing. Thanks for the idea!

I think Mile-a-Minute starts with a strip and you add small pieces to it. (put the strip down face up and put scraps face down and sew...cut and add on.

Crumbs start and continue to use smaller - odd shaped pieces.

I'll try to find links by searching.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-6951-1.htm
Crumbs: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-47601-1.htm

Mile a minute
http://quiltingisstillmypassion.blog...-tutorial.html

Now that's CLEVER - and I LOVE the Organized Scrappy effect it makes. That I could do! ... but with all the different *edges* I'd probably cut my crumb into a square along with a square of my background fabric and sew 1/4" from a diagonal line corner to corner and then cut 2 HST.

OhOhOhOh I want to do it NOW - but I have appointments out of the house - :( :( :(
ThankYou

Michele, your quilt is gorgeous! Who'd a thunk that those are all "crumbs"????

can you post, Polly, what a crumb block looks like? i am not sure what that means, or looks like? I do like making string quilts for my baby quilt donations - easy, fast, ect.. just hoping to try something different if Crumbs could fit the bill for easy,fast stuff..

Well and when I talk crumbs I mean crumbs!
I cut triangles to use in scrappy quilts that are 2 1/2" on the short side.
So anything I use as a crumb is not large enough for that small shape.
I hate throwing anything away! I also am not into string quilts so all my strings get sewn together and cut into triangles!

I think Bonnie Hunter at quiltville.com explains the crumb blocks very well - here is her link;

http://quiltville.com/crumbs.shtml

Thanks for posting the tutorial for the mile-a-min. I can see how they would be faster to make. I'll have to give them a try!

wow, sounds like me, lol.. i never throw anything away , since I have to get creative in my quilting with limited fabrics.. I love the looks of strings anyway, so crumbing it sounds just as fun, and just as resourceful.. thanks " Ruby" ( forgot your real name, lol )...

The only Mile-a-Minute I know is for fabric creation. Carol Coski from Quilt-A-Way in Vermont began it, as far as I know, in the mid-late 90s. She offered a class at a Westminster Quilt show that I attended - great fun. Carol wrote an article with instructions for AQS magazine, I think in the late 90s.
Somewhere on the Quilting Board there's a thread describing Mile a Minute.
I just saw that quiltinghere listed the link above. It's a good tutorial. I diverge, though, after adding the 3rd strip; I don't want all the blocks to have identical fabrics - so I start adding to them singly. Ending up with several large size new fabrics on which to position a 6 1/2" square and cut (always angled).

I'd say keep going! I love crumb blocks! Here are some fun examples that may inspire you to keep crumbing! http://www.15minutesplay.com/

Thanks for this link.
It looks fun! :-D And, I do LOVE scrappy! :lol: