In the past year or so I've been trying to be more deliberate about it - mostly using my postage stamp pieces or using string blocks as my leader/ender. I have 3 small cookie tins full of 1.5" squares cut from scraps and so I've been playing with them lately as leader/ender pieces - ending up with little 4-patches that are 2.5".
Last week I saw a quilt online somewhere that was made entirely of these postage stamp 4-patches, separated by solid cream squares. Well, I also have a lot of 2.5" squares from scraps, and there are plenty of white ones. So now I'm adding the squares to the 4-patches. I'm thinking it won't take long to make a doll quilt from these units. And it's making a tiny dent in those postage stamp pieces.
Another thing I do as leaders/enders sometimes - a string block. I have a TON of scraps and need to make better use of them. I've done 3 donation quilts using string blocks, so it's time to make another. I had a few 10" muslin foundation squares already cut and ready to use. And I also saw several scappy log cabin variations online recently. But maybe I need to focus on just one leader/ender project at a time.
I need to start turning my 2.5" scraps into something useful.
ReplyDeleteI usually use the quilt I am making as the leader/ender pieces. If I use other blocks as leader/enders, I get too impatient and want to finish that project first. It's great to make two quilts at once, though!
ReplyDeleteYou could use one "extra" project as a "leader" and a different one as the "ender".
ReplyDeleteThat way you would be working on 3 different projects at the same time (if you get bored with only working on 1 or 2 at a time).
I try to do that because I get bored easily. But then the challenge becomes not getting too confused about what I am doing.
I usually begin L&Es as exactly those -- then I get impatient and crank out a whole bunch of units. My go-to L&Es are HSTs that begin with 3" squares. I put lights and darks together and slice on the diagonal. Every dozen or so I trim them to 2.5". They come in handy in so many projects. String blocks on 10" foundations are the "basic" HeartStrings block. I've made more than a thousand over the years. My current goal is 48 HS blocks each month. (Most HS quilts use 48 blocks.)
ReplyDeleteI've been doing 2.5"x5" bricks, sewn together and then cut into 2 patches, then made into 4 patches, to eventually make 16 patches. I've done several quilts with these, but the current one is called Sunny Skies, a free pattern I found online. I also use my "extra" strips from the scrappy trip around the world and rip those into 2 patches as well. My most recent l/e project is making 4 patches from the leftover strips of my yellow/blue scrappy trip around the world. I'm making a Blue Ridge Beauty based off of Bonnie Hunter's pattern, but using 2.5" instead of 2" scraps. I find such joy in making extra quilts from leaders/enders. I love your 1.5" square box. I may have to try that next.
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