A Crayon Box

Crayon Box Quilt Block

Continuing on with the Diary Quilt, I want to share this block with you, though I apologize for the horrible color. If you look at the sunbeam block, that is the same turquoise, yellow & orange. Not sure what happened to the color in this photo.....those strips that look black? They're dark green. 

Technical difficulties aside, this block was a no-brainer. The minute I saw it, I knew without a doubt I had to include it. For no one else but me. 

If one thing, one toy or hobby or emblem could be chosen to sum up my childhood (and, by childhood, I mean all my living at home years....) it would be crayons. Oh how I have always loved crayons. 

A fresh box, with that delicious scent of brand new crayon. 

Dumping the contents and arranging them correctly. Because, as any crayon lover knows, they belong in rainbow order. All the reds marching on to the oranges to the yellows to the greens to the blues to the purples, and then the pinks and grays and browns and blacks and  metallics. In a dark to light to dark progression, of course. 

Buying a new box when the crayons got so dull that I might need to tear the paper in order to sharpen them. Nope, not me. If the paper  needed to be torn, it was time to buy a new box. Period. 

I made only one exception to that in all my at -home years, and that was when babysitting the niece of a friend. I couldn't resist Maddie's innocent request and big brown eyes begging to sharpen the crayons. I caved. And bought a new box the next week, saving the peeled paper ones for any future Maddie visits. 

Of course I have my favorite color. In fact, my quilting mentor did a blog post about that, when she asked my favorite color (so she could surprise me with a gift!) and I replied, "Cerulean. You know, the crayon color???"  Her kids being a wee bit older than  mine, crayons haven't been around her house in a long time. She had to go on-line to look up the exact color I meant. Oops. (and thanks, dear friend!)

So, yep, when I saw this block I knew it was going in the quilt. It so perfectly, all in one block, captures my entire childhood, all of my at-home years. From Christmas tree ornaments to Keepsake Tins to entering (but not winning) New Color Naming Contests to those many, many, many boxes of beautiful, barely used,  unpeeled crayons. Crayons simply are my childhood, and this Crayon Box Quilt Block simply is the perfect symbol of that. 

What about you?? Do you have a favorite color? Or some other favorite childhood toy? And, did you order your crayons, or leave them all willy-nilly how the crayon company packages them???