My quilting thoughts and inspirations sprinkled with a glimpse of life down on the farm

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Leaders and Enders, old and new-

What happens when you see a project you want to do but you know you really shouldn't start it?
If you are Raewyn you tell yourself it is ok to start it by turning it into a Leader and Ender project :-)
This is what happened when I saw the little Mountain Trail quiltalong by Lori of Humble Quilts.
I resisted and resisted but when I started seeing every-one's finished quilts I gave in, and my latest Leader and Ender project was born!
A few months later, here it is!
Mountain trail mini quilt. Approx 18" x 25"
Don't you just love it? The strips are cut at 1 1/4" so it was fabulous for using up the smallest scraps (double yaay!!)
(Would you believe this is the 3rd project to go on my quilting pile this year!)
So that left me with a quandary - what would I use for my next Leader and Ender project?
Luckily, I discovered another gorgeous sewalong recently and decided, it too, would make a perfect leader and Ender project.
(Any project that I can cut ahead of time and is relatively simple to put together is fair game for my L/E projects).
I started preparing by cutting the pieces for the blocks....however I got really excited and before I knew it, I had sewn up both the blocks without even stopping to breathe!
This is a week-by-week sewalong (for 5 weeks, I think) by Pam Burda by Heartspun Quilts. Pam encourages us to find our orphan blocks and to incorporate them into this project. I had fun rummaging through my scraps and found a few orphans I could use. Once again the pieces are so small, it is perfect for the smallest scraps.

Here are week one and two blocks.....looking good so far.

Week one.
 The size of these blocks is 4 1/2 inches...... so pretty tiny, huh?
Week two.... yes, this is just one block and is 4 1/2 inches square!
This block used a really exciting technique to form each small segment -
I'm not going to share - you'll have to go to
Pams blog to discover how they were made!!
Hopefully when the next few weeks' instructions come out I can be really disciplined and keep to the L/E idea!

Thanks for reading along everyone. My computer time is limited right now so apologies for not visiting you all as often as usual. I'll be back soon.  In the meantime, I hope you are all finding some stitching time.

23 comments:

  1. Beautiful work Raewyn! and what a clever method for the tiny four patches!! I'm going to have to play with that tomorrow. I was making Bonnie's Hot Cross Bun block as my Leaders and Enders but put the stash away somewhere in the room move - I had better dig it out and get sewing again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fantastic Leaders and enders project. A really beautiful quilt.
    Lovely blocks too Raewyn.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Raewyn, your Mountain trails is perfect!! And it made a perfect leader/ender! I too have been away from the computer, so am trying to touch base with my favs!! I haven't started Pam's - too much else going on!! But it is sure cute!!

    Blessings

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love what you are Making...
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your Mountain Trail and those beautiful little blocks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, that is a gorgeous piece of work. Love the look of your quilt and what a great way to use up scraps.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Leader/enders can justify many a new project! : ) Mountain Trails turned out just beautiful!
    I saw Pam's quiltalong referenced on another blog and I popped over to see the method on those little on point 4-patches. It is SO clever. I am currently doing a different little mini quiltalong, but when it is finished I want to try out those cute blocks! Yours look great!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely quilt, Raewyn. I like your idea with LE's to make another quilt, too. I get overwhelmed by lots of pieces to cut/sew etc at one time. Good way to do it...Julierose

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love that deep, red fabric that's in both projects. Or are they different. Love that shade - kind of a deep pinky red. I love the mountain trail quilt. I was sorry I didn't start it and I've still got too many irons in the fire! The other project is so cute - so tiny! I have some little four patches that need a home - love that little block.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your Mtn Trails quilt and the use of leader/ender!! Woot! Woot!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just been having a catchup on your blog after our holiday. You've been working away busily! Love your hexie border fabric and I found the paper after much squinting. I'm not organised enough to have a leader and ender project but after seeing how quickly your projects get completed - maybe I should pull finger!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks gorgeous Raewyn. Well done on the finish. Tiny pieces for your next project. Knowing you it will be a treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love your leaders and enders top--
    so sweet--I have been working on an idea for one for me to use--figure I might as well be doing two things at once right???
    love those two blocks too--great job!!
    Hugs, di and miss gracie
    PS I think that Odie will look just like Timmie when he gets older!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love your L/E project. It came out lovely. I can see why you don't want to wait to do the new blocks. They are really darling. I loved the tutorial on the construction method. I'll have to try it. Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the Mountain Trail - it has been hard for me to resist that one. The little blocks are great too.
    All the best!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I can't believe how productive you have been Raewyn. What was your New Years resolution! I will have to get a lesson from you on leaders and Enders sometime

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love is in the air!!! These are all beautiful, I would love to join the fun.....but I will watch you battle with "What is my leader/ender project & what is the actual project I am working on?"
    Bloggy hugs friend!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Adorable quilt, and I love the colours!
    Your tiny blocks are so cute!

    Hugs,
    Tatyana

    ReplyDelete
  19. Lovely Raewyn! Got to love making all the time spent at the machine as productive as possible.... :-)
    We can justify starting anything we like if we convince ourselves it's for the right reasons LOL

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a fantastic way to sneak in an extra quilt between projects! Your L/E mini quilt is gorgeous. You have put ideas in my head. Oh no! Your small blocks are amazing. Thanks for sharing the link to see how they are done. Gotta try those too! Thanks for the great post too.... I'm learning a lot here ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love it Raewyn, what a fantastic idea for a leader and ender project , I am not so organized as that .

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dear Raewyn,
    I didn't realize that I had not visited your blog in such a long time. Then I started to think about you and I see some things have been going on with you and your family. I am so sorry to hear about your father. It is a sad thing to lose a parent or any family member.
    Good to see you are sewing again and working on some beautiful things as always.
    Hugs, Carrie P.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment. I read and appreciate them all and try my best to reply. Have a great day!!
(If you are a no-reply or anonymous blogger and would like a response, please leave an email address.)