Dolphyngyrl

I still never got the point of them, have never used them even on my cheap machines

LindaM

Besides the advantage of avoiding the beginning of the seam getting eaten (without a leader), I find using an ender keeps the last few stitches on my seam straighter. I also find that I use less thread with leaders/enders - I don't sew as much on the scrap as I cut when I end and then start a new seam.

Jan in FL

I have never really understood or seen the point in leaders and enders before today. It has all just clicked for me. Thanks so much ladies! I am going to precut some fabric to keep by my machine and start that s3cond quilt while I sew! Clipping the thread and starting the next stitch is sooooo time consuming. I think this will save me time and frustration.

quilttiger

Check out www.quiltville.com. This has great information on Leaders and Enders.

vickig626

Bonnie Hunter's (quiltville.com) theory on leaders and enders is that if you keep scraps near your sewing machine, you start with 2 pieces of scraps and sew the 1/4" seam (leader). Sew your project block, then finish (ender) with another scrap. You don't use the same scraps over and over. You keep going with this method so that over a period of time, you have blocks starting to form for another quilt.

I believe the main intent is to have actual blocks for a quilt ready to sew and make these your leaders and enders. Then as you work on one project, you are actually working on two with the leaders and enders method.

Bonnie makes scrap quilts and think this is how she came up with this idea. I keep scraps by my sewing machine and do this then square them up into possible blocks for scrap quilts.

Hope this makes sense.

Judi in Ohio

I don't need leader/enders. I normally sew a bunch of whatevers - not one at a time, and I leave my last one in as a leader. I don't need it for my Juki, but I try to stay in the habit for my other machines that need it for.

Madan49

I never sew without a leader/ender... no matter which machine I'm using. I keep 2" squares of WOW and 2" squares of print fabrics by my machine, and those are sewn together in 2-patch units as my leader-enders, and then tossed in a bin as I go along. When there are enough of those, they get added together to form blocks that make up scrappy double or tripple irish chain quilts, or other patterns like that.

CorgiNole

This is how I look at it also. I send the ender under the needle and then trim off the last block or strip and I'm all set for the next set to sew.

Cheers, K

CorgiNole

Bonnie mentioned in the lecture on Monday that she also uses leaders/enders for counting. So - say you are working on a project that has 100 blocks and you want to be able to quickly see how many of a unit you have finished. She would send a leader/ender set through after every 10 units for the current project. This allows her to build up the leader/ender blocks more quickly and to see at a glance how many sets of 10 she has completed for the other project.

I need to do a better job of keeping the precut squares nearby so that I don't keep sending the same dust bunny square through. On my list for tomorrow (tonight is lacrosse practice and getting my son packed for 2 camps).

Cheers, K

MargeD

The leaders and enders are good for not having the machine snack on your fabric and try to eat it. The enders will become new leaders when you start your next piecing and my sewing machine dealer told me that it is a good idea to put the pressure foot down on a piece of fabric. If you go to a sewing machine dealer, I think you will almost always see the pressure foot resting on a piece of fabric.