Adventures with Leaders & Enders: Make More Quilts in Less Time!

My copy of this book arrived today and I have already put it to use. This happened to be one of the rare days in my life when I spent most of my time working on a quilt. It happened to be a quilt that I find very tedious to make and I have had to force myself to sit down and work on it. It is a promise I am keeping to one of my kids and it has to be my top priority quilt for now, even though I would prefer to be working on any number of other projects. When the mail came I stole a few guilty minutes to read through the first pages of this book about leaders and enders and how to set up a system to use your scraps. Many quilters use the "leaders and enders" idea, but may not know it by that name. If you start and end your chain piecing with a scrap of fabric that controls the thread tails and eliminates backstitching, you are using leaders and enders. The difference in Bonnie's instructions is that you plan ahead what you will use as leaders and enders from your scrap stash, sewing together two evenly cut scraps each time, rather than alternating the same few scraps until they become stiff with thread. In this way you are really working on two quilts at the same time. As you continue to use this method through a few "main" projects, you will soon find you have enough pieced units to add sashing and create another quilt.Scrap quilts are my favorite and I love having a variety of projects going at one time, so this method really appeals to me. Add to that the fact that I can't stand to part with leftover squares cut for a quilt or the corners cut off making stitch and flip snowball blocks and other blocks using a similar method. Those pieces fill and overflow several containers in my sewing corner. It was simple today to grab a bag of triangles left from a project last year that were all in coordinating colors from the "Kansas Troubles" fabric collection and start implementing Bonnie's method right away. The pile of finished half-square triangles on the corner of my sewing table just keeps growing. I can already see so many ways I will be using up my scraps as I continue to work on my "bucket list" of other quilting projects. The book includes an even dozen patterns for very scrappy quilts made using the "leaders and enders" technique. The directions are clear and well-illustrated. And for those who may just want to make one of the quilts without working it in between other projects, she also gives directions on how to use strip piecing to create the same quilts.If you love scrap quilts and if your scraps from previous projects are taking over your stash, Bonnie's ideas to organize and start using those scraps will free up valuable storage space and allow multi-tasking quilters to step it up a notch. What's not to love about that?ETA: I have now completed two tops using the leader/ender method and I am partially through a third. This is definitely a favorite quilting find!!

As expected

I heard Bonnie speak at a quilt guild meeting in November and was intrigued by the way she handles her scraps. I wanted the book so I could follow her method. I have been cutting my scraps to her method ever since and have become obsessed with it!This book explains how to cut your scraps into usable pieces with a quilt or two in mind. It also has several patterns included to get you started. Once you have the pieces cut for the pattern you choose, by piecing four or nine patch units together, at the beginning and ending of your piecing chains for a different quilt, you will wind up with a whole separate quilt. Kind of like making one without actually making it!The patterns in the book are clear and concise and are easy to follow so you could just make them without the system. The photos of the quilts are also very good. One thing I took from Bonnie is the realization that even your scraps cost $10 a yard so you may as well make them into a useful quilt. They are perfect for charity endeavors as well.I have other scrap quilt books but this one was more useful because of the scrap system she uses with her own scraps and the idea to make two quilts at once. The projects in this book are much easier to do than the other books I have purchased with this in mind.

I use leaders and Enders all the time but this is the first book for using them with ideas I like.

Bonnie Hunter is such an amazing woman and she give so much of herself to her fellow quilters! I follow her on Facebook, and watch her live broadcasts. So much support for her followers! She has a talent and such creativity! If you are a quilter or have someone in your life who is. Bonnie's books are a welcome addition to that library! Step by step instructions and easy to follow photos. She encourages creativity, has you follow along, and also helps you think outside the box. Love all of her books! Bonnie, said it before and will say it again, you are very special and thank you for all you do!

Bonnie Hunter made me love scrap quilting. I rarely learn anything new from quilting books, and usually skip over the foreword and afterward materials to get straight to the projects, but Bonnie is full of great ideas, so I read every word she writes. Whether it's her hints and tips for saving, cutting and using scraps, or as presented here, using leaders/enders to get a "bonus quilt" done while working on other projects, there's plenty to inspire even the seasoned quilter. Bonnie is a generous, down to earth person. I encourage anyone divided on buying this book to have a look around her blog. The mountains of information she shares for free will be a testament to the quality of the material she publishes in her books.

Another great Bonnie Hunter book. Her teaching style takes the worries out of making quilts using gently used clothing. She shows what clothing works best, how to “unassemble” them to get the most usable fabric from them. Then she offers a variety of pattens to try with great advice and instructions every step of the creative process with the result being a beautiful, functional quilt to be proud of.

This is a great book l have learned alot about leaders and enders before getting this,book l never really knew what leaders and enders were. Highly recommend,this book.

This book for quilters is about using scraps and oddments, with a time saving twist. Bonnie has devised a method of using your little pieces as thread bunnies so that you are putting together the quilt while doing your other sewing!It's interesting and the idea intrigued me, but if you want to just get on with it, there are loads of patterns to just dive into, you don't have to use the time saving trick. I like the writer and have started to follow her blog now.

Great book, really like the explanations as well as the patterns suggested. I didn't think of doing leaders and Ender's before but it makes sense as explained in the book, it's a way to warm up and make another quilt at the same time. This is the second on Bonnie's books that I own and I've been very impressed with the way that both are written and the patterns work well in a wide variety of colour options including fully scrappy which is perfect

Surprised that ordering two books together they arrived separately but nevertheless it arrived quicker than expected. Contents look very interesting looking forward to using the book sooon

Another well set out book with good ideas for using up those scraps or or starting form scratch.

Enjoyed this book very much, loads of patterns.