I've found that I get bogged down with having too much stuff around me. As someone else mentioned, it's a distraction and adds to my already cluttered area. I do use leaders and enders, but I use little scraps smaller than 2in. square. When the l/e'er has too much thread on it, I discard it and start another one.

I've always wondered if you need leaders and enders for the leaders and enders themselves to avoid thread messes at both ends! LOL

I always thought leaders and Enders were to begin and end chain piecing or any other shape to stop the feed dogs chewing the ends. You learn something new every visit here.

Yep that's exactly it! Also it saves on thread waste. Started with sewers re-using the same piece of scrap over and over, and then tossing for a new scrap.

However Bonnie Hunter came up with a plan which instead involved using pre-prepared scraps which would be seamed together in such a way that they can be incorporated into a quilt design later.

I use off-cuts smaller than 2.5 inch square (Hexie-size lol). Real scraps! I keep a jar of 1 inch squares, another of 1.5 inch. Every so often I'll have a cutting session in front of the TV.

They get leader/endeared into 2's. 2's into 4's. 4's go into 8's and then these into 16's. No thought required except I try not to have two the same fabric next door to each other. I don't bother to iron until I'm up to the 16 point. I also don't panic about seams nesting, the bits are so small they seem to match effortlessly.

Eventually I will have enough to make a postage stamp quilt, all from scraps too small to do anything with.....

If I remember I'll post a photo of the blocks so far later :-)

Cheers, K

You are right DOTTYMO. You can use any scrap for leader and ender, or a spider, or a startie-stoppie. They have different names, but serve the same purpose. Chain stitching does the same, too. You just need a leader at the beginning of your chain, and you can cut that off and use the same piece as your ender when you finish with that chain.

It sounds like a great idea but I kind of feel it's a distraction too from the project you're working on.

It's hard for me to pre-prepare that much. Honestly. I have a few quilts going at all times and wishing I could start the next, but the leaders/enders thing is not part of that picture. I don't like cutting so much I guess, and that would be where I would have to put concentrated effort to keep up I think. I bought a new throat plate just for piecing with one hole instead of the wide slot and as long as I use that I don't need the spider or leader/ender piece, but I do love the little nine patch pieces that I saw. What a wonderful bonus!

I with Dottimo. It just makes my piecing better at each end of my piecing. I
Hate having little pulls at the end
When I pull my piecing off
The machine. Helps me keep piecing
At each end aligned

I do kind of the same thing, but not necessarily with light and dark. After I finish piecing a top, I cut 2.5" squares out of the scraps and arrange them into 9-patches, none being the same. I pin the block pieces together and put them into a plastic bin. When I need a leader, everything is waiting for me. I have a few hundred blocks now that are waiting to be grouped into batik, boy, girl, and hodgepodge tops. I'd start now, but I'm always afraid that the best blocks haven't been made yet so I put it off until they appear.

Sounds familiar. I have quite a few Wonky Stars and crumb blocks that are waiting to be assembled into quilts.