Saturday, May 16, 2015

Scrappy Saturday Leaders and Enders

While sewing this week, I have been very careful to have my leader/ender blocks cut and ready to go.  This is a concept that we have heard a lot about in quilt land and I think we sometimes forget how revolutionary it is. You really can make a whole separate quilt in between sewing blocks for a primary project. Leaders/enders are magical when you really think about it. You just have to be thoughtful and have the project be very organized. Do you have Bonnie's book Adventures with Leaders and Enders? Believe me, you need it!
Here are the leader/ender Alamo stars made this week in between other sewing projects.  Over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge we are using up our green scraps this month, so each star has some green in it.
The block on the lower right doesn't have as much contrast as I would like, but I left it and am hoping it will add some "interest" in the final quilt. Some fabrics don't translate as well in miniature blocks, but I reminded myself that not every block needs to be high contrast.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see what other quilters are sewing with their green scraps this week.

18 comments:

Marly said...

Lovely little stars. You are certainly well organised to make those triangle-in-a-rectangle units as Ls & Es. I certainly have that book and have two L & E projects going: one with 2" squares, and one with 1.5" strips.

AnnieO said...

Leader-Enders are revolutionary in my sewing room--I had never even heard of sewing off onto a scrap before Bonnie, in my decades of sewing. Your tiny stars are so cute.

scraphappy said...

If every block were a standout, none of them would be. Even a little no contrast guy can play a role,

sunny said...

I've never worked with leaders-enders. I need to give it a try. I think your litle blocks will all work well in the end.

Julierose said...

Those are the neatest little stars--nice colors! Hugs, Julierose

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I love to have a leader/ender project by the machine. These are coming along nicely.

Deb A said...

That will just be the one the eye gets to relax with! They are going to look great in a quilt all together.

Barb said...

I really need to check into that, thanks for the reminder

Katie Z. said...

I love your blocks. Thanks for sharing!

Kaelyn Angelfoot said...

I never did quilt get the hang of a leader ender, but I really should give it another try. Fabulous blocks!

Mary said...

That's how I've been using my Sawtooth Star block partss that I'm making in Civil War Fabrics. I love you Alamo Stars. Even if they are tiny.

Scrappy quilter said...

I need to read up on this leader/ender and see what it's all about. Thanks for the link.

Teresa Rawson said...

That's a cute block and I like the fact that there is a little bit of green in each one...makes them so lively! Also really love the sting ray paper pieced in a previous post...that looks HARD!!!

Janet O. said...

I love leaders/enders! Makes me feel like I am really getting things done!
Some of those blocks with a little less contrast do give a scrap creation a little more character, I think. : )

Cathy said...

It's always a pleasure to see your stars! (I never got into the leader/ender concept...just doesn't work for me...wish it did).

Jennie in GA said...

Great stars. Leaders and Enders make so much sense, don't they?

Sheila said...

Such sweet stars! I should do more leaders and enders.

Kate said...

It's hard to remember that when you are making a lot of one block for a quilt that you need some variation to add sparkle to the quilt. I have a tendency to want every block to be stunning.

Leaders and enders is the best tool for finishing up projects.