I'm chain piecing miles and miles of Leader and Ender (L & E) blocks for donation quilts.
For the past few years, I've been using 3.5" squares for L & E. Each year, I piece them together to make simple patchwork quilts for donation.
Because these are amenable to straight-line quilting, I am able to use the white-on-white (or natural) fabrics that have the thicker paint on them. These tend to shred my thread with FMQ, but quilting with my walking foot works well. Each year, I gather the blocks and assemble the quilts--it's fun to see the different fabrics that I have worked with during the past year.
I have found that working with consistent squares as L & Es is less confusing for me than trying to use parts for a more complicated quilt. The first couple of years that I did this, I used two-rail fence blocks (even or uneven rails), but the stairstep quilting I usually did with those was quite tedious (stitch, turn 90 degrees, stitch, turn 90 degrees, etc.).
I love using L & E--in fact, I feel guilty now when I use my machine's thread cutter because I feel like I should have another block to go under the needle! I also like the idea that I am creating donations for those in need every time I sit down to sew.
Happy Quilting! 😸
Great idea--I like the simplicity of working with squares, too...
ReplyDeletehugs, Julierose
I think these fit the idea of "quilt" for many people (especially those less familiar with quilting).
DeleteThanks for visiting.
Simple L&E's is great. I don't free motion quilt, I only do straight line quilting. I'm having to turn the quilt for one I'm doing now (yes, it is a pain).
ReplyDeleteYep--it isn't hard, just tedious!
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