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Leaders and
Enders!
Adventures in Chain Piecing :c)
Adventures in Chain Piecing :c)
I love continuous chain piecing. I think it is one of the methods that really saves a ton of time and a ton of thread ends.....
I
learned a long time ago to use a
folded scrap to sew on and off of at
the beginning/ending of a line of chain piecing...you would get to the
end of your chaining, and sew onto this scrap, leaving it under the
needle of the machine, and snip the threads between it and your piecing
behind the presser foot. This always leaves SOMETHING under the foot so
you dont start the next line of piecing with long threads that get
tangled and get sucked down the needle hole pulling your fabric
pieces with it, or worse, have to trim all those, trying to get them in
the trash, but finding them ending up more on the floor, and clogging
the wheels of your wheelie chair at your sewing machine as you roll
over them....or around the vacuum beater bar!
When you get to the end of the next chain of piecing, you put another fabric scrap though the machine and trim behind it...then you would go up to the top of the piecing you just trimmed off, removing the fabric scrap (sometimes called a 'thread bunny' by those who use this method) and have it ready for ending the next line of piecing.) I typically had two thread bunnies going at any given time, one would be under the foot as the 'leader' to start the piecing with, the next one would be the 'ender' as I ended. The 'ender' becomes the new 'leader' as you start the next line of piecing.
I would continue to use the same scraps to sew on and off of until they were clogged with thread, then that would STILL end up in the trash...and I would start with new ones until they were too full of thread to use anymore.
Then a lightbulb went off. I took a bin of scrap 2" squares that had been accumulating from trimming scraps down, and started using those as leaders/enders instead of a wadded up thread covered scrap. I would sew a light square to a dark square, trim off behind it.....and eventually have a stack of these little "two squares" that I would also use as leader/enders to sew into 4 patches....
The first pic shows trimming the other chain piecing I was working on BEHIND the two leader/ender squares that I just fed through the machine..I am using little spring thread snips that I keep at my machine for reaching behind and snipping. It's easier than trying to get back there with big 8" sewing scissors. The second pic shows two pairs of 'leader/enders' being sewn into a 4 patch at the ending of a line of chain piecing:
When you get to the end of the next chain of piecing, you put another fabric scrap though the machine and trim behind it...then you would go up to the top of the piecing you just trimmed off, removing the fabric scrap (sometimes called a 'thread bunny' by those who use this method) and have it ready for ending the next line of piecing.) I typically had two thread bunnies going at any given time, one would be under the foot as the 'leader' to start the piecing with, the next one would be the 'ender' as I ended. The 'ender' becomes the new 'leader' as you start the next line of piecing.
I would continue to use the same scraps to sew on and off of until they were clogged with thread, then that would STILL end up in the trash...and I would start with new ones until they were too full of thread to use anymore.
Then a lightbulb went off. I took a bin of scrap 2" squares that had been accumulating from trimming scraps down, and started using those as leaders/enders instead of a wadded up thread covered scrap. I would sew a light square to a dark square, trim off behind it.....and eventually have a stack of these little "two squares" that I would also use as leader/enders to sew into 4 patches....
The first pic shows trimming the other chain piecing I was working on BEHIND the two leader/ender squares that I just fed through the machine..I am using little spring thread snips that I keep at my machine for reaching behind and snipping. It's easier than trying to get back there with big 8" sewing scissors. The second pic shows two pairs of 'leader/enders' being sewn into a 4 patch at the ending of a line of chain piecing:
The 4 patches finished at 3", and I paired them up with 3" finished 1/2 square triangles making this block unit:
I made THIS quilt with them:
Finished and bound!
I was so enthralled with how
this quilt grew while I was
working
on OTHER projects at the same time that I quickly had to come up with
another! So I started sewing 9 patches the same way, using red and
neutral squares as leaders/enders. I ended up with THIS quilt:
My
third leader/ender project went
quickly too..I made a scrappy
double irish chain with the leader/enders... It's shown here as one
block, and as the blocks are being laid out. The blocks are made
with 4 four patches from
light/dark scraps (the 4 corners of the block), and 4 connectors that
are made with a dark scrap
sewn to a 2" square of the background that is the same fabric as the
alternate blocks (the background fabric square is at the center of the
4 sides) and one plain center square for the center of the
block. I do the alternate blocks as leaders/enders too...the 2"X
5"rectangles for the sides of the block have 2"scrap squares sewn onto
the
ends of them before they are sewn to the large 5"X 8"alternate
rectangle..all
while sewing other projects, and using these just to start and end a
line of piecing.
Here
are a few of the blocks as
they were coming together:
And the full quilt! There are 66 checkerboard blocks and 66 alternate blocks
for a total of 132 blocks set 11X12!
Finished and bound!
Click here for a close up of quilting detail.
My fourth
leader/ender
project was a zig-zag 9 patch. I made the 9 patches
from leader/enders with more scrap 2" squares. These 9
patches are
completely random, each 9 patch has 9 different
fabrics in it. This really wasn't a chain piecing project...I suppose
it could be if I wanted to sew 3 panels of 3 strips each, sub cut
them,
rearrange, sew back together...but that isn't the point. This project,
a pair of 2" squares at a time, then a third added, then 3 rows of
3 sewn together as leader/enders while I work on other things.....grew
all
on it's OWN!
When I have 10 completed 9 patches, I pin them together with a safety pin. Easier for me to count that way..just count the pins...
When I have 10 completed 9 patches, I pin them together with a safety pin. Easier for me to count that way..just count the pins...
Time to start
putting this leader/ender project TOGETHER!
Here is the center together before
borders!
With borders!
I quickly had to come up with what to do NOW in the leader/ender department since the 9 patches were all done....I still have an overflowing bin of 2" scrap squares sitting by the machine. I remembered an antique strippy quilt I had seen....and the light bulb was firing off again. This is what I have going, just since counting the 9 patches, seeing I had enough, and switching gears into the next leader ender project.
These
strippy panels may go with alternating plain panels that
I can
do some fancy quilting in, or maybe I will use them as the 'bars'
between some other piecing, like stars on point....something will come
to me! What I am doing is piccing dark/light/dark/light/dark (5
squares) into a chain, and then piecing two solid red triangles onto
the end of each row. This will put the pieced bar on the
diagonal....all steps can be done as leader/enders, even adding the
next finished 5 square bar with two triangles unto the strippy unit
that will grow quickly on it's own as I work on other things! I need 7
panels to finish the quilt, and look....I'm nearly done with the 7th
one! Time to think about what leader/ender project I want to do next :c)
I quickly had to come up with what to do NOW in the leader/ender department since the 9 patches were all done....I still have an overflowing bin of 2" scrap squares sitting by the machine. I remembered an antique strippy quilt I had seen....and the light bulb was firing off again. This is what I have going, just since counting the 9 patches, seeing I had enough, and switching gears into the next leader ender project.
Close up pic
of leader/ender strippy panels
This is the finished quilt! The binding is on, but still has to be turned to the back and handstitched down!
Close up of quilting while on machine and on fence!
Feb 25th, 2006 UPDATE!
(so yes, leaders/enders can take a long time when it comes to getting enough to make a full quilt, but it does get done!!)
The finished quilt top looks like this:
Finished size: Approx 70X70 and still awaiting quilting!
Now I am off and searching for what my NEXT leader/ender project is going to be!
This is the finished quilt! The binding is on, but still has to be turned to the back and handstitched down!
Close up of quilting while on machine and on fence!
Feb 25th, 2006 UPDATE!
A fun thing happend this
morning. I measured the last section of the leader/ender strippy
bars and I have enough now to make a quilt top! But it is also a panic
moment..because I didn't have another project ready to jump into as the
next leader ender challenge!
I looked all over for a tree
pattern that would work with my 1.5" squares. Block base had nothing
but
those that use 1/2 square triangles. My old trusty "It's Okay If You
Sit On My Quilt" by Mary Ellen Hopkins had some ideas (This was the
very first quilt book I ever bought
back in the 1980's and it's a keeper!) and with a few modifications and
thanks to EQ5 I have drafted up Crabapples!
The trunk portion of the tree can be easily paper pieced if desired, and then the tree top parts added on around the pieces that make the tree trunk section.
If you want the whole EQ5 file, you can find it here: You must have EQ5 (Or EQ6) to use this pattern. And NOTE....the tree blocks finish at 8". The base finishes at 5"..but the file wouldn't let me save blocks in two different sizes, so when you print the base pattern for paper piecing, remember to print it out in 5" size, not the 8" block size!
Update! October 30, 2007!!The trunk portion of the tree can be easily paper pieced if desired, and then the tree top parts added on around the pieces that make the tree trunk section.
If you want the whole EQ5 file, you can find it here: You must have EQ5 (Or EQ6) to use this pattern. And NOTE....the tree blocks finish at 8". The base finishes at 5"..but the file wouldn't let me save blocks in two different sizes, so when you print the base pattern for paper piecing, remember to print it out in 5" size, not the 8" block size!
(so yes, leaders/enders can take a long time when it comes to getting enough to make a full quilt, but it does get done!!)
The finished quilt top looks like this:
Finished size: Approx 70X70 and still awaiting quilting!
Now I am off and searching for what my NEXT leader/ender project is going to be!
So,
now that you know what
leaders/enders are....can you see
yourself doing something with them? The pieces don't have to be
2" squares..they can be ANY size...they can be rectangles for a
rail fence, they can be 1/2 square triangles...just ANYTHING that you
can use to start and end a line of piecing with.
And they dont even HAVE to be scrappy. They can be planned. Think of the next project you WANT to do even though you are already piecing on something else. Are there units in that 'next' quilt that you can cut pieces for, and use those for leaders/enders as you work on your current project? You can have that 'next quilt' nearly half pieced by the time you finish your current top! And that is the exciting part. You just have to think ahead and have something cut and sitting at the side of your machine for you to use and you will be amazed how fast units stack up :c)
And they dont even HAVE to be scrappy. They can be planned. Think of the next project you WANT to do even though you are already piecing on something else. Are there units in that 'next' quilt that you can cut pieces for, and use those for leaders/enders as you work on your current project? You can have that 'next quilt' nearly half pieced by the time you finish your current top! And that is the exciting part. You just have to think ahead and have something cut and sitting at the side of your machine for you to use and you will be amazed how fast units stack up :c)
Any other questions on why I do this? :c)
Bonnie
Questions
or Comments? I would love to hear from you!! Bonnie@Quiltville.com© Quiltville Custom Quilting 1997-2005 All Rights Reserved. No part may be used, copied or otherwise
altered without express written permission from the webmaster.