What is a crumb?
 

I have seen some quilt blocks that were made from using crumbs of fabric. What is a crumb and what size is it? How do you make a block with them?

Thanks,
Craft

For me a crumb is anything shape from 3/4" to 2". Start with a straight edge on two pieces and sew them together until you have a bigger piece.
https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach...ain-1-back.jpg

and here's one I received as a wall hanging https://www.quiltingboard.com/attach..._0440-copy.jpg

It's taking your small scraps and sew them together to make a block. They are fun to make. Every block has different angles , colors, etc.

Both of you quilts are lovely! I would have thought crumbs to be close to postage stamp sizes. It is nice to be wrong and easier to describe when giving up smaller scraps. Thank you for the explanation.

I make lots of crumb blocks and bits and pieces of crumb fabric with my scraps, it it’s at least 3/4” of an inch wide I use it as a crumb.

Rob

Do you use a foundation when doing these as you do with a string quilt? It might be fun to try something tiny...and use up some bits!

Think of crumb as a variation on string piecing. Just put all the bits and pieces together to make fabric. You can incorporate blocks/pieces of blocks. You can use a foundation or not.

I don't do this style of thing myself, but I found a person on the board who loves the style and I send her boxes of my crumbs and so I've learned quite a bit about it... for me a crumb is anything smaller than 6.5" square (which is the smallest size I now keep). I keep a flat rate box by my cutting board and in it go all the uneven cut strips (ok, so I'm fussy and prefer straight edges in my storage), the bits and pieces, bad cuts, etc. that happen. I was being pretty productive for a year or two but gosh, it must be 6 months or more since I filled up this last one. A lot of what I send is probably too big for crumbs as direct use, they probably have to be cut a bit. She prefers pieces no smaller than 1.5".

There are some super videos out there.

In a bag of thrift store stuff I got was a bunch (a bag of itself) of precut fan blades, so parallelograms which I would consider crumbs. They are pretty long and I'm going to do a different small piece concept and sew them onto a piece of adding machine tape (then remove the paper). The blade colors are all coordinated and so my bars of fabric should be too, I'm planning on using it then as sashing. I often find bags/boxes of adding machine tape at the thrift store if there is an office supply or craft type section. Here's the thread that gave me that idea:
https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f...s-t211152.html

crumbs can be fun.....anything bigger than 1 inch by inch I would keep as a crumb....(figure a quarter inch seam on every side leaves you with a 1/2 square if you use a one by one inch piece...which I think is pretty small....but if you want to use a 3/4 by 3/4 piece....you will get a 1/4 inch square finished....pretty cute....but labor intensive and makes for a very bulk and heavy quilt as there would be more fabric in the seams then on top....one fun idea is to make the crumb blocks by color....eg...put all the blues together to make blocks......then all the oranges...etc.....have fun...let yourself go...you don't actually need to know what the finished quilt is going to look like when you start sewing the crumbs together.....

I use a used fabric softener sheet to sew my pieces to. I don't have to be too fussy with a 1/4" seam. when the block is done I add some of my machine fancy stitches using up old bobbin thread. It is a win-win solution to left overs!

I consider a crumb any thing smaller than 1 1/2” square, and even a little larger if irregular shaped. But I mostly throw them out.

also my guideline. that small they go in the round file next to my foot. I do save my 1.5" scrap squares and used them in quilts, they make stunning borders 5-6 wide.

For me, a crumb is anything small enough that a sane person would throw away instead of saving. But then, I'm a quilter so by default I'm not exactly the sanest person around LOL.

I keep a basket by my cutting table just for all those odd shapes and small pieces (anything over 1.5") and periodically as the basket fills up, and I'm in-between projects or don't know what I want to work on next, I just start randomly reaching in the basket and sewing pieces together. When I get a big enough collage of fabric sewn together then I cut it down to a 9" block. When I have enough blocks they get sewn together. I find the process very relaxing because there's no thought process invoilved: no measuring, no planning, no pattern... just sew and trim.

I actually use pieces that are just 1/2 inch. I make 1/8 inch seams in most of my crumb quilts. I start with my two smallest pieces and sew them together. Find or make a straight side and sew something onto that. If I can't find a piece large enough, I pick through and find pieces the same width, sew them all together in a row, and now I have a strip to sew onto the block. I've made four of these quilts now with black sashing. My cornerstones are 2 1/2 inch squares, and they have anywhere from four to 10 pieces in them. At least four of strange shapes and sizes.

Theresa Down Under posted this tute today.. https://mypatchwork.wordpress.com/20...ideo-tutorial/

Kalama—thanks for posting that . It was fun to watch. Makes a lot more sense to me now , seeing that she lines up multiple pieces along a long straight edge piece rather than two by two. I still don’t kniw if I’ll venture into crumb quilt making; aren’t the pressing and quilting a pain with all the seams?

I love crumbs... for me, anything bigger than an inch is a crumb. I want to be able to see it when I sew it into the block. I have a friend from guild who gives me hers, and I am always looking for more. For me, to toss it in the trash is wasteful. I do not dedicate time to sew crumbs, but when I want to sew and not think too hard, I sew crumbs

Ive tried crumb quilting 3-4 times now. While I love the work that ive seen other do - when I do it myself I hate the results. So now I throw away anything smaller than 2.5"

A few things--if you use a foundation--whether it is muslin or an old sheet or fusible lightweight interfacing, you really can get away with 1/8th inch seam. I steer away from used dryer sheets because most of my quilts are for charity and I worry about the residual chemicals and scents in the sheets.

If you have 'larger' crumbs, consider slab blocks. Crumbs on steroids.