That is how my lathe is set up. If you have the lead screw in the forward position, (with the machine running in forward btw) the carriage feed is toward the head stock, the cross feed feeds out towards the operator, and the half nuts take it toward the tail stock. When running the lead screw in reverse, (machine is still running in forward) the carriage will feed toward the tail stock, the cross feed will feed in, and the half nuts will thread toward the head stock. I thought something was screwy with mine as well. Guess not lol. But it does seem weird doesn't it.
Chris
Chris