What is a leader/ender? Have you ever sewn through a scrap before you sew on your actual pieces so that the fabric doesn't get pulled down into the feed dogs and get bunchy? Then you have used a leader/ender. This are particularly helpful when chain piecing, and you have finished one row/section and you don't have any more to sew until you iron or cut more. You sew through a piece of material, get your next row/section ready and your ready to go again. Well, that piece of material ended one row and started the next, so it was a leader/ender! Now, instead of sewing through a scrap piece of material that you are just going to throw away, why not keep a stash of scraps squares or triangles next to your machine to use as leader/enders. I have made several quilts this way. The quilt in the picture above in one of those quilts. I kept a stack of 2" squares next to my machine. Anytime I needed a leader/ender I would grab two squares that I thought looked good together and sewed (sewn, if you prefer) them together. When I was done with the section of blocks, I would cut of my scrap squares and set them aside. When I had a huge stack of 2' scrap squares sewn together, I then started grabbing two of them to use as leader/enders making them into four patches. Then the four patches were sewn to a larger block (3"), again as leader/enders. Once I had the double four patches sewn together (all as leader/enders while sewing other projects together) it became a projects of it's own. I arranged the the double four patch blocks on my design wall. When I was happy with the layout, I started sewing the blocks together and started another leader/ender project…this time sewing ½ triangle squares together. See picture below. While I would love to take credit for this wonder idea, it belongs to Bonnie Hunter. She has a book filled with leader/ender ideas and projects. This is such a clever idea, thank you Bonnie! Every busy quilter can benefit from including this idea into their sewing life…
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