Sunday Scraps

Do you "Leaders and Enders?"  This clever technique was popularized by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville's Quips & Snips.

Many quilters use a scrap of fabric to sew onto at the end of a row of stitching.  This allows the quilter to avoid holding thread tails at the beginning of the new seam.  Bonnie, however, stitches onto two small squares of fabric, right sides together.  These are then stored until there is a big batch of them, when they are put together in a variety of quilt patterns.

I use 2 1/2" squares for my "Leaders and Enders," and here is a mini-tutorial for my latest scrappy quilt block. 

Sew two 2 1/2" squares together until there are six, then add one square at the end of each row to make a nine-patch.

Next, add a 1 1/2" by 6 1/2" strip of background fabric (I use Kona Snow) to opposite sides of the nine-patch:

A 1 1/2" by 8 1/2" strip goes on the top and bottom:

Now add a row of four 2 1/2" squares on the right and left:

(Didn't really need to show you how to do this, I just wanted to show off my Independence Day manicure!)

And finish with a row of six 2 1/2" squares at top and bottom:

The block finishes at 12 1/2" raw-edge-to-raw-edge.  As you can see in the first photo, I have enough 2 1/2" squares to make many, many of these blocks!


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