It took me a long time to figure out what "leaders and enders" were.
(Leaders: patches of fabric you sew together before you begin sewing your main project and Enders: patches you sew together at the end of chain stitching which you keep in the machine until you are ready to sew another batch of blocks thus turning them into Leaders.)
It took me even longer to figure out why you would ever want to do that. It finally came to my attention that some people use much more expensive thread than I do and using leaders and enders does save thread by eliminating the tails of thread at the beginning and end of pieces. But still....
Well, I decided to try it anyway. I had a stack of vintage inspired eye-spy patches that I had been meaning to sew up into a quilt for at least 3 years that I dug out and started using as leaders/enders. It turns out that I really like using leasers and enders and have made significant progress on the eye-spy patches.
Some of the remarkable progress is due to the fact that I kinda cheat and regularly sew more than one patch together as an ender. They are just so dang cute and much easier to piece than the foundation paper piecing I have been working on. Another unforeseen benefit is that I don't have to trim threads. Since I am always chain piecing there are never any tails to trim off. Score!
So do you use leaders and enders?
Yes! I am hoping to make a "leader/ender" quilt some day!!!
ReplyDeletemee too!
DeleteI've made several L/E quilts. I love using L/E because they 1)save thread 2)save time, 3)keep me from having to trim threads later 4) keep long thread ends from finding their way to the front of the quilt 5) keep the machine from eating the first half inch of the seam 6)give me a free quilt eventually and 7) keep the seam's first few and last few stitches from coming out.
ReplyDeleteThe trimming of threads and 'restarting' is why I do it...
ReplyDeleteYes, I use leaders and enders, and like you I sometimes "cheat" as well, it keeps the workroom a lot tidier without all those pesky threads everywhere, and even better is when you have enough to make up a quilt that just seems to have appeared from nowhere :)
ReplyDeleteYep, I pieced a large portion of a queen-sized quilt that way, and it feels almost like cheating because surprise! you've got a quilt! :D I think I'm physically incapable of having only one project going at a time...
ReplyDeleteI do it because I hate dealing with a pile of thread tails. My current leader/ender project is a mile a minute block, so all I have to do is pull scraps out of a paper bag.
ReplyDeleteInteresting!! I have not used L/E before - but after reading your post and these comments, I think I may have to give a try. What's to lose, right? I love the idea of having a surprise quilt top at the end. thanks for sharing Leila!
ReplyDeleteI just recently started doing this. I decided I really wanted to make a disappearing 9-patch, but I've got so many projects going on that I didn't know when I'd carve the time out to start it. I cut up the scraps left over from the skill builder sampler blocks (I finished all the blocks a few weeks ago and am piecing the top now -- woohoo!) and a bunch of other projects into 2.5" squares and started piecing them together as leaders/enders. I cheated a bit too, went ahead and made some into nine-patches and cut them up to see how they'd look :) But mostly I've just been churning out two-patches so far until I get enough to add a 3rd and so on. At first I really didn't get why people would work this way, partly because when I was just starting it was all I could do to make the main block come out right without worrying about extra bits of sewing at the end! But I really love the idea now, and I feel good about not wasting a ton of thread even though the brands I use most aren't super expensive.
ReplyDeleteI DO use leaders and enders, but I never realized they were a "thing" or had a specific name.
ReplyDeleteI dont use L & E but with the modern janome you dont need this, for you dont have that thread bit. but it does sound like working on more than one quilt at a time. I keep a scrap bucket near by to test stitches after changing a foot or thread, bobbins or start FMQ. So I hope I am understanding what the purpose is.
ReplyDeleteThis makes a huge difference in thread usage, in how much trimming I have to do and in the amount of work I accomplish. I too sometimes get all excited about the L/E project and sew a few extra!
ReplyDeleteI also like them because it keeps the presser foot at the same level as the fabric you're about to sew which does help it get going with even stitches. The newer machines that lock and cut the threads may be handy, but if you want to split your intersections on the backside when pressing and 'fan' them...it doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteI use them because my machine tends to "eat" the edge of the material when something new is started, especially a triangle. I never knew people used them to save thread!
ReplyDeletethanks! I use leaders and enders all the time, but never thought to make them productive. I just used a folded scrap over and over. Now I am planning all kinds of easier projects to incorporate as I sew
ReplyDeleteWhen I use my old sewing machine, I use a small piece of paper tuck under the fabric to prevent machine eats the edge of the fabric, that works great for me so I don't have the knowledge of "leader/ender" method. When you're making the "leader/ender" quilt, do you sort your scraps first by colors, sizes and shapes?
ReplyDeleteI became a leader/ender convert several years ago. However, I'm not very prolific at creating something from mine. You see, I've been piecing 1-1/2" squares into 16-patch blocks. Though I have more than 80 blocks now, there still aren't enough for a decent-sized quilt. But I totally agree with the concept of them! Using Aurifil thread, like the BMW of threads, I don't want any waste. L&E's are a good way to be frugal. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to do the leader/enders. Can someone fill me in!
ReplyDelete