I never need leaders or enders as my two main straight stitch only machines never pull fabric into the bobbin area.

My other machines did when I used the plate for zigzag instead of straight stitch plate with a small hole in it.

Thanks for the link. She's made some beauties out of them!!

Wow! I've gotten all inspired by this thread to use leaders and enders and then make a scrappy quilt out of them. I happen to have some 2 1/2 squares left over from my EPP project. I think I'll put them in a little box so I can have them next to my machine.

Thanks to all the wonderful members on this board! It makes more sense now and I will consider making some some blocks with my new leaders. Thank you. :-)

Are you sewing with a zigzag machine with the large hole plate on? I have no problem with beginnings being eaten with a machine with a small needle hole. My zz machine that only has a wide hole will eat the beginning corner of a half square triangle, but she isn't allowed to quilt, so it's not an issue.

My current leaders are going into an Arkansas Crossroads so I need 16 patches - lots of 2 1/2 squares used up.

After finishing a quilt I keep all my scraps together and use those as leaders/enders and make a random-pieced slab of fabric that can be used as a doll quilt, or as an art quilt, or as a non-traditional block in a quilt - this uses up scrap fabric with pieces that have already been color coordinated. I even appliqued several "spiders" to a small art quilt (3 per row and 3 rows) to make a cool small quilt. There are uses!

You don't use them the quilt. I use, like most others, scraps left from piecing. And yes, they do get full of thread which is the purpose. I save all scraps and toss them frequently after several uses. Maybe you are a very accurate cutter, but I usually cut a bit bigger and there are always "bits". You only need an inch or so, folded in half.