How do I get myself going on using leaders and enders?

Leaders and Enders are when you start a seam/finish a seam onto a different piece of material so you don't waste as much thread.

How do you set up your odds and ends or pieces so you always use leaders and enders? And, do you sew all the way through the item or only partly through the item when you do it?

I get one or two set up but quickly run out of pieces. I finally decided I could have my strips or squares or other precut pieces just sitting nearby, but haven't gotten into the habit of doing it.

How did you get the habit?

I take a day or two and cut up scraps with my Go.. My fav is the 2in sqs.. I keep a small bin next to my machine and pull two when I need an ender.. I dont care which ones I grab, as long as they are not identical.. I sew enough that if i leave my sewing machine the foot is not resting on the feed dogs, its is cushioned by the 2 pieces of fabric.. and as for habit, i just see them and i just know they are there, so i grab them when needed..

Wow, great idea, thanks for sharing

Sometimes I have a container of HST leftover from Flying geese or binding seams, pair 2 of them up and use them as L & E.

Do you sew all the way through when you pair them up, or just part of the way...to pick up the rest when you do the next part of your project?

I sew one pair all the way through, then continue with the current project until I need another L & E. Put the sewn HST (or 2 squares) into a small bin to be dealt with later.

Great question and answers! I was wondering this myself and having been wanting to start using them. I think I was too worried about matching up a light one with a dark one. It would be a lot easier just making sure they are not the same fabric!

as with all habits- it is something you just do-more and more until it is second nature- at our lqs they have a basket of 2" squares---they just cut them out of what ever scraps when cutting- and put them in the basket- it sits near a machine- when needed 2 are simply grabbed and used-
practice-causes habit

I had recently decided to make a 2" square quilt and had thought of the leaders & enders... I will start with this one of these days... eventually lol. It will take me more time than I have right now to get organized enough to do it but I love the idea of a 2" quilt. I'm going to have my guild start saving scraps for me to make it with for more variety.

I cut a lot of 2 1/2" squares (or whatever size I need) and have them separated by lights and darks. I'll sometimes sit down for 20 or 30 minutes (or just while watching TV) and pair them up right sides together. I then stack the pairs turning each 1/4 turn from the previous pair. This makes it quick and easy to just grab a pair and sew it without taking my focus from my main pattern. The 2-patches can then be paired up and stacked turning 1/2 turn each time.

I used this method to make a scrappy Double Irish Chain using 2" squares.