Every now and then I get the urge to make crumb blocks, and I cover every surface of the sewing room with little strings and snippets and scraps.  I sew together all the little shreds that I've saved in various containers, and I'm happy, happy, happy.

Blocks start to materialise on the design wall.  I love the way the tiny pieces look next to each other.  I plan to make lots of crumb quilts, and to keep sewing until all the containers are empty.

Then suddenly there are no more nice pieces to sew; everything left in the boxes is dull, the wrong shape, the wrong colour, not big enough.  I get grumpier and more disillusioned.  I hate crumb piecing.

It's harder and harder to finish a block.  I just don't have the  right size or colour strips.  I start putting bits in the bin, instead of trying to fit them into the jigsaw of my blocks.  I HATE all the mess!!

At that point it's time to pack it all away and let it sit in the cupboard for a while.  I know that I will accumulate another pile of interesting scraps, and then I'll be able to finish the blocks I started, and make a whole new stack of them.  You can't rush crumb piecing, it's a progression, not a straightforward process.  My quilt will be all the more interesting if I take longer to make it.  It's definitely not a quilt-in-a-day.