54 Quiltmaker • March/April ’16

by Diane Harris

T here are several ways to make Flying Geese. Which method you choose depends partly on

personal preference, but also has to do with how many you need, how large or small they are, whether the fabrics are all the same or scrappy, and how they fit together in the project.

Flying Geese are twice as wide as they are tall. Common sizes are 1"x 2", 11⁄2"x 3", 2"x 4" and 3"x 6". Here you’ll find four methods to make Flying Geese and suggestions for when each method would be most useful.

For our examples, we used Flying Geese to finish at 2"x 4". The charts on page 56 give the cutting dimen-sions for common sizes of Flying Geese, but it’s helpful to know how to do the math yourself in case you ever need Flying Geese in odd sizes.

1. Fast Flying Geese

This method works well if you need just four Flying Geese and they’re all the same, or if you need mul-tiples or scrappy Geese. To make the Geese scrappy, use different fabrics for the B’s.

If you start with two fabrics, this method results in four identical Flying Geese. You’ll need 1 A square (geese) from fabric #1 and 4 B squares (sky) from fabric #2.

Get Your Geese in a RowFour Ways to Make

This Common Unit

You can determine the cutting dimensions by starting with the fin-ished size of the Flying Geese. We’re using 2"x 4".

Take the finished width of the Fly-ing Geese unit and add 11⁄4": 4" plus 11⁄4" = 51⁄4". Cut one square (geese fabric) 51⁄4"x 51⁄4". Take the finished height of the Flying Geese unit and add 7⁄8": 2" plus 7⁄8" = 27⁄8". Cut 4 squares (sky fabric) 27⁄8"x 27⁄8".

Draw a diagonal line across each B patch. Align 2 B patches on opposite corners of A, right sides together, with the lines running from corner to corner as shown. Stitch ¼" out from both sides of the line.

Cut apart on the marked line.

Several of the quilts in

this issue include the

traditional units widely

known as Flying Geese.

Flying Geese show up in

lots of quilt designs, so

knowing how to make

them quickly and accu-

rately is a valuable skill.

Quiltmaker #168 • quiltmaker.com 55

With the B patches on top, open out the B’s and press the units. On the remaining corner of each of these units, align B patches as shown.

Sew ¼" out from both sides of the line. Cut on the marked lines, open the B’s and press.

2. Foundation Piecing

Using paper foundations works well when many geese are lined up in a row. It’s a very precise method and works well for small Flying Geese.

Make paper copies of the founda-tions.

Note: the photo shows the founda-tion for 1 Flying Geese. Foundations can have multiple Flying Geese depending on how many you’re making.

Shorten the stitch length on your machine to 1.5 mm. Foundation piece the Flying Geese in numerical order, pressing and trimming after adding each patch.

Remove the foundation paper gently after the Flying Geese are sewn into the project.

3. Stitch and Flip

This is another method that works well for small units. As with any stitch-and-flip, there is some waste, but most quilters feel the conve-nience of this method is worth it.

Figuring the cutting dimensions for the one triangle and two squares needed is simple. The rectangle is cut to the size of the finished Flying Geese unit plus ½". The squares are cut to the height of the finished Fly-ing Geese unit plus ½".

For example, if you’re making Fly-ing Geese to finish at 2"x 4", the unfinished size would be 2½"x 4½". Cut one rectangle 2½"x 4½" for the “geese.” Cut two squares 2½"x 2½" for the “sky.”

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each square. Lay one square at the end of the rectangle, right sides together, as shown.

Sew on the marked line. Trim the seam allowance to ¼", flip the patch open and press gently.

56 Quiltmaker • March/April ’16

Repeat with the other square on the other end of the rectangle, taking care to place the diagonal line in the opposite position as shown.

There are options when it comes to trimming these units. You can trim away both layers of fabric. You can choose to trim away only the sky fabric, leaving the base/goose fabric in place for stability. Or you may choose not to trim either layer away and just press the patches open. This leaves some extra bulk in the unit but for some projects that’s acceptable, especially if the units are very small.

4. Cutting Triangular Patches

Using three triangular patches was the standard method before any of the others became popular. Hav-ing the straight of grain positioned properly is critical to success with this technique. The cutting di-mensions are based on two simple formulas (although the techniques are different, the formulas are the same as for the Fast Flying Geese method).

For the large triangle, take the fin-ished width of the Flying Geese and add 11⁄4". For Flying Geese that finish

2"x 4", you would add 11⁄4" to 4" for a total of 51⁄4". Cut a square 51⁄4"x 51⁄4" and then cut it in half diagonally in both directions. The resulting 4 tri-angles are the “geese” fabrics (one is needed for each Flying Geese unit).

For the small triangles, take the finished height of the Flying Geese and add 7⁄8". For 2"x 4" Flying Geese, you would add 7⁄8" to 2" for a total of 27⁄8". Cut one square 27⁄8"x 27⁄8" and then cut it in half diagonally. The resulting triangles are the “sky” fabrics.

Join a small triangle to one side of the large triangle as shown; press gently.

Repeat to add the second triangle in the same way.

May your geese always fly straight and true!

Fast Flying Geese: each set makes 4Finished Size

1 large square

4 small squares

1"x 2" 31⁄4"x 31⁄4" 17⁄8"x 17⁄8"

1½"x 3" 41⁄4"x 41⁄4" 23⁄8"x 23⁄8"

2"x 4" 51⁄4"x 51⁄4" 27⁄8"x 27⁄8"

3"x 6" 71⁄4"x 71⁄4" 37⁄8"x 37⁄8"

4"x 8" 91⁄4"x 91⁄4" 47⁄8"x 47⁄8"

Stitch and Flip:each set makes 1Finished Size

1 rectangle 2 squares

1"x 2" 11⁄2"x 21⁄2" 11⁄2"x 11⁄2"

1½"x 3" 2"x 31⁄2" 2"x 2"

2"x 4" 21⁄2"x 41⁄2" 21⁄2"x 21⁄2"

3"x 6" 31⁄2"x 61⁄2" 31⁄2"x 31⁄2"

4"x 8" 41⁄2"x 81⁄2" 41⁄2"x 41⁄2"

Triangular Patches:each set makes 1Finished Size

1 square 1 square

1"x 2" 31⁄4"x 31⁄4" 17⁄8"x 17⁄8"

1½"x 3" 41⁄4"x 41⁄4" 23⁄8"x 23⁄8"

2"x 4" 51⁄4"x 51⁄4" 27⁄8"x 27⁄8"

3"x 6" 71⁄4"x 71⁄4" 37⁄8"x 37⁄8"

4"x 8" 91⁄4"x 91⁄4" 47⁄8"x 47⁄8"

Download printer-friendly foundations at quiltmaker.com/articles/FlyingGeeseSizes

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