You might also be interested in some other ways to use up your fabric scraps…
If you are anything like us, you probably have loads of small scraps of fabric that you just don’t know what to do with. You don’t want to toss them out but they are too small to actually do anything with. That’s where the crumb quilt technique comes into play. With this technique you can use up all of those small bits of fabric to make beautiful, colorful fabric that you can use to make quilts, cushion covers, applique, bags, table runners and more.
Watch the video below or scroll down for the step-by-step written instructions
Our crumb quilt tutorial video goes through the steps in detail but in a nutshell it involves sewing together all of those little bits of fabric together to form one big piece of fabric that you can then cut down to size to suit your project.
- You start by taking two bits of fabric and as long as both of those bits of fabric have at least one straight edge, you simply sew them together. You can see in the image below that the two pieces both have a straight edge, so I can sew the two together. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t the same length so don’t think too much about lining things up perfectly. I also don’t worry about ironing the fabric at this point.
- Continue to sew two pieces together until you have around 10 to 20 pieces. To speed things up make sure you chain piece.
- You can also sew multiple scraps onto one long strip.
- You can see an example of this in the image below. It looks a bit odd at the moment but we will trim these up further on in the process.
- Now you just need to take those pieces your just sewed and trim them. (I do press the seams to one side before trimming.) The goal is to form as straight line that will allow you to sew it to another piece. You can trim along the side like in the image below.
- Or you can cut straight through the middle. This will give you two crumb pieces to sew to use.
- For the long piece of fabric, you can see below how I trimmed this piece.
- I even cut some on an angle to create interest.
- Once you have trimmed each of these two patch pieces, you are ready to sew them together. Back at your sewing machine, simply take one piece and sew it to another. Again, you don’t need to worry that they aren’t the same size or length. As long as you have two straight edges, you can sew them together.
- See how nice it is starting to look already with just four pieces of fabric sewn together.
- You can even use a long strip again, like in the previous step. Simply lay out the strip and attach pieces to it.
- This is what it looks like once the pieces have been sewn on.
- Once you have finished sewing the two patches into four patches, come back to your cutting table and trim them all once again to form a straight edge, just like you did with the first lot of pieces. You can also cut on an angle – just go with what suits you but don’t think too much about it as you cut.
- The goal is to keep sewing the pieces together until you form a piece of fabric big enough to use in a project of some sort.
Here’s some ideas for what you can do with the crumb quilt fabric:
- Iron on some fusible adhesive to the back and cut applique shapes.
- Cut the crumb fabric into squares to create a quilt.
- Create a cushion cover.
- Use the crumb fabric to create a tote bag.
- Create a dog bed.
- Create a table runner, placements or coasters.
noilin says
Looking forward to making crumb quilt. great way to use up the scraps and use with your fabric journal tutorial.
Alanda says
That’s a great idea Noilin.
Beth says
Beautiful
Robin Hauch says
I love everything I am watching. I am not very
good at sewing but I just recently made a tote
and I wish I could show you…I am so proud!
You make it so easy to follow along! Thank
you so much!
Alanda says
We would love to see your tote bag Robin. You can share some photos and tell us a bit about your project here https://www.alandacraft.com/submit-your-project/. Once you have done that your bag will show up on our Readers Projects page. 🙂
Dawn says
This looks really cool. I want to try it
Lora Fleming says
We always called these crazy quilts! They’ve been around forever, my first one was made in the 30’s from velvet & satin scraps, and lavishly embroidered with metallic thread on all the seams!
Alanda says
Thank you for the information Lori. Yes, they are very similar, crazy quilts are usually a mix of different fabrics such as Velvet and Satin, and they have embellishments added, as you mention. They are often sewn on to a backing of some sort because of the different grains of the fabric. There is generally a structure to how the pieces are put together.
Crumb quilting on the other hand is done from left over scraps of quilting fabric and the scraps can be really small because of the technique used to assemble them.There is no set structure, you just grab two bits of fabric and sew them together. Sometimes I will sort them into colour ranges but that’s it. I don’t add backing to my crumb quilting until it is finished.
Alishia says
Yes. This is what I know as crazy patchwork. It’s technically not quilting until you make a sandwich with batting and backing fabric. Crazy patchwork/quilting usually has embroidery, beading, buttons, sequins, etc added as embellishment, but it’s essentially the same patchwork technique. I have a couple of cushion covers I made like this years ago.
Diana says
This is so cool. I’m not a quilter, but have lots of scraps and hate to throw anything away. What a great way to use up these pieces of fabric!
Alanda says
This is the beauty of this technique, Diana, it’s a great stash buster. And you can use the fabric to make journal covers, table runners, wall hangings, so lots of sewing projects. Have fun creating 🙂
JillyG says
Great tutorial. Very inspiring.
Alanda says
🙂
Suzanne says
Thanks so much for the video.
I keep a large quilt bag by my cutting table and I keep all scraps, big and small. Now I know what to do with them.
Alanda says
You are going to have a lot of fun using up all those scraps Suzanne.
Jill Simmons says
Thank you for your video!! Finally I understand how to quilt. I need to learn the rest though. What to use inside and the backing. I will be watching other videos if you have them.
Alanda says
The type of batting you use depends on the look you want for your quilt. We generally use Warm & Natural batting for our quilts. It might help if you take a look at the ‘Easiest Quilt Ever’ here is the link https://www.alandacraft.com/2015/06/08/quilting-for-beginners-the-easiest-quilt-ever/. The backing is usually 100% quilting cotton, but you can also use other fabrics such as fleece. When starting out I would recommend using quilting cotton. Here is a link to some of our other quilting tutorials https://www.alandacraft.com/category/quilting/quilting-tutorials/.
Brenda Stewart says
Love this tutorial. Hope to follow more of your tutorials
Karen says
Love it! Thanks for sharing!
Alanda Craft says
So happy you like it Karen. It’s such a fun way to use up those scrappy bits and pieces.
Jeanie Marino says
Thanks for a great tutorial! Lovely voice and thorough presentation! I have 40+ years of accumulated scrappy bits and now can’t wait to dig them out and be creative!
Alanda Craft says
I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun with this. It’s such a great way to use up those smaller scraps. I can only imagine how big your stash is after 40 years!
Jo says
Love love this tutorial. Very detailed instructions!
Alanda Craft says
So happy to hear that Jo, thank you. It’s such a lot of fun to do and it’s a great way to use up all those scraps. 🙂
Marlene Breti says
Awesome tutorial!!!! Loved it.
Lysann says
Thank you so much for the video. I am just now starting to learn how to quilt and always wondered how to make those!! What a great way to use those smaller pieces.
Gwen says
Definitely a thumbs up for this tutorial. I have so many projects on the go ….. looks like there will be another one !
Barbara says
How you just sewing over the other seems are you opening and up and then sewing
Alanda Craft says
We just leave the seams running in one direction.
Karen B says
Thank you so much! I’ve been sewing a lot, creating many small scraps, just so I can try this. It looks so fun! Love your machine also, and by the way, you are adorable! Thanks for making this video.
Alanda Craft says
That’s hilarious Karen, I’m not sure Paula agrees that I’m adorable. Thank you for your adorable comment. You are going to love crumb quilting. It really is fun to do, and if you take a look at some of the projects that our other readers have sent in, you will see just how innovative crumb quilting can be. https://www.alandacraft.com/?s=crumb+quilting
Debbie says
Thank you for the tutorial. I do have a question. Since fabrics will have grains going in different directions, will I need to stableize pieces in order to use this method to make a quilt? I appreciate your expertise and input.
Alanda Craft says
I don’t worry about the grain, Debbie, I just pick up two pieces and sew them together.The pieces are small enough not to worry about stabilising them. Others may have different ideas, but that is how I do it. You may want to make squares of crumb quilting and sew them together in blocks rather than trying to build up a full quilt. You might like to take a look at some of our Readers Projects, here is the link https://www.alandacraft.com/?s=crumb+quilting
Jackie Manning says
I’m not interested in quilting, but this really looks like a great way to use all those odd fabric scraps for other possible projects. I never thought about sewing odd pieces of fabric together to make a new piece of fabric! Great idea!
Colleene says
I have been making face mask and hundreds of 2″ triangles from cutting the corners off of the rectangle. Any suggestions on how to put these together to make a quilt? I thought I could do the crumb quilt but I am a little over whelmed.
Andrea F. says
If you flip every other triangle in a row – point up, point down, up, down – sew them like that, you’ll have a long, skinny row, & can join those.
Or,
Same concept, but sew them straight onto a backing (scrap?) fabric, zigzagging between them like applique.
My 2 cents of ideas.
Alanda Craft says
Thank you for these ideas Andrea. 😊
Bonnie Cadieux says
Now that I have seen how to make the blocks can’t wait to start one. I will save this till the summer at the lake. I have a Hugh ba g to work from.. Thanks for the demo.
Alanda Craft says
You will certainly have fun doing this Bonnie. It’s a great way to whittle those scraps down a bit. Enjoy your time at the lake.
Suzanne Huddleston says
Interesting! Actually, I did “crumb quilting” when I was first learning to piece and quilt. I made bags for grocery shopping, which the store cashiers love because they can be machine washed & dried so never smell like milk that has gone bad! I didn’t know I was using a technique that someone actually would want to continue using! I think I’ll go back to that and make some more bags. Thanks Alanda!
Karen says
Thank you for your clear instructions. You inspired me! I wanted to upload a photo to show you what I did, but I can’t see how to.
Alanda Craft says
Just go to the ‘Submit Your Project’ page and there is a browse button at the bottom of the page. Click on that button and you will be able to upload a photo. https://www.alandacraft.com/submit-your-project/. I am looking forward to seeing your project Karen. 😊
Sharon says
Hi, I know absolutely nothing about quilting lol, I’ve just subscribed to your newsletter 🙂 I have a (stupid?) question. I would love to make a jacket using the crumb quilt technique, I noticed on the few videos I’ve watched that nobody bothers backstitching!!! I concerned about washing the crumb fabric especially when it’s made up as the pieces may come apart in the wash. Am I wrong, just overly concerned or should I backstitch every piece? It’s not going to be a quick project lol.
Many thanks,
Sharon x
Alanda Craft says
There is no such thing as a stupid question Sharon 😊, it’s simply something we don’t know yet. The reason we don’t backstitch in quilting and crumb quilting is because each piece of fabric is sewn to another piece of fabric and this “locks” the stitches in. So you don’t have to worry about your stitches unraveling. Once you get started you will see how this works. I do hope this helps.