Thursday, January 05, 2012

Light Bulb Moment

Despite all my education, sometimes I'm just a wee bit slow to catch on.  Yesterday afternoon I ran in to my LQS to buy more neutral thread (white and off-white).  I've been going through quite a bit of this stuff since I began the OBMQ, and needed to stock up.

Now my LQS (Caroline's Homespun Seasons in Stettler -- just moved to a larger location, so no links in place yet; sorry) has a coffee/tea bar, so after I made my purchases I got a cuppa and sat on a comfy couch to look at a book on sale in the racks.  This one caught my eye because I recognized both the title and the name of the author.  Yes: it's Adventures with Leaders & Enders by Bonnie Hunter -- she of Orca Bay Mystery Quilt fame.

I'd heard of the book because my friend A has been raving about the technique for a year (two?) now.  I'd heard of Bonnie...well... because I've been following her blog and working on one of her designs since mid-November.

However, somehow, it took browsing through the pages to actually get it.  To suddenly completely understand what Bonnie's been driving at with all this talk about 'leaders' and 'enders'.  I've used 'em for years -- but never called them that.  Whoever showed me the trick with L&E referred to them as "piggers", and that's how I've always known them -- till yesterday, when I learned that if you use scrap squares to create Piggers With Purpose (aka 'leaders' and 'enders'), you can create useful tidbits that can eventually go into a quilt.

TA DA!  I present My First Twosies:


I have a baggie of 1 1/2" scrap squares which, by the time the OBMQ top is completed, will have created a full range of square-pairs, just waiting for a four-patch.  More stash cleared!

Side benefit:  I continue to improve my quarter-inch seams.  What's not to like?

To think I've been quilting for over 15 years and only just figured this out.  (Blush)

1 comment:

Mark+ said...

Y'know, to those on the outside of the "Quilting Circle", this is beginning to sound like a cult, with coded language and mysterious initiations and strange preoccupations!! . . . Just kidding, well now time to say EP, go to TKD and look at prepping for HE (BAS or BCP?) for tomorrow. LOL Glad to hear the pennies are dropping.