Crumb-tastic!!

Well, it has happened again. The crumbs have taken over. I am both liberated by this crumb piecing business and constrained at the same time. I tend to work on more than one block at a time so I can have a continuous line going. I also probably spend too much time thinking about just the right color and pleasing shapes and proportions in the attempt to make every block balanced and beautiful. As a result of these two habits the entire cutting table near the machine is covered in scraps and partial crumb blocks. I can't get anything else done (hemming pants, the Greek chitons I am supposed to be making for scouts...). Each time I go in there I end up piecing blocks in an attempt to finish some of them up and get them off the table. By the time those are finished there are three more started... and on and on!

Anyway, I started out with a big stack of 4" crumb blocks already from last spring which you can see some of in this post. I don't think I want to do a lap sized quilt of blocks that small so I am going to try to come up with an alternate plan. I may make some or all of them into wonky star blocks. I could alternate wonky star blocks and 'solid' crumb blocks of the same size. I may toss the star idea entirely and just do a layout using two different sizes with sashing between. All have pros and cons which I will examine at a later date when I have more blocks to play with on the wall. All this to say that I am doing some 4" and some 8.5" blocks. I liked the way Jo's blocks have a little structure amid the chaos with the stars or flying geese etc. I started to incorporate four patch sections to the larger blocks before the Tuesday lesson and really like the window-y look and I think the 4 patch satisfies my eyes' craving for symmetry somewhere.


I am totally in love with the little geese I have been working on since Tuesday's lesson over at the Crumb Along as well. I love their crookedness as I am not normally a crookedy quilter. Yes, I will admit that I DID use a ruler to trim them, but only so the sides would be straight, not square (this is a big thing for me, making things that aren't square! LOOK, I even cut off points on purpose this time!) I am using a "planning to be random" approach... geez, I'm such a dork! Obviously a couple of these still need some work, but they are almost there.

I am also cutting a few 4" blocks along the way when I get a piece that works just right for that size. The good news is I am churning through the scraps, the bad news is I still have a ton and found a whole big lot  in another place yesterday when I was searching for just the right scrap to finish off a goose block (insert eye roll here... apparently I am not acquainted with the concept of RANDOM). So what do YOU think?